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MEMORIAL  ADDRESSES 


ON  THE 

LIFE  AND  CHARACTER 


JOH  n  Alexander  Logan, 

(A  SENATOR  FROM  ILLINOIS), 

DELIVERED  IN  THE 

SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES, 

February  9  and  16,  1887, 

WITH 

THE  FUNERAL  SERVICES  AT  WASHINGTON,  D.  C., 
FRIDAY,  DECEMBER  31,  1886. 

fl.Q. 


Prepared  in  accordance  with  joint  resolution  of  Congress,  and  by  authority 
of  the  Joint  Committee  on  Printing, 

BY 

W.  B.  TAYLOR, 

Clerk  Committee  Military  Affairs ,  U.  S.  Senate. 


WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE. 

1887. 


THE  FUNERAL  SERVICES. 

At  Washington,  D.  0.,  Friday,  December  31,  1886. 


John  Alexander  Logan,  tlie  senior  Senator  from  Illinois,  died 
at  Ins  home  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  a  few  minutes  before  3  o’clock, 
on  Sunday,  December  26,  1886. 

Congress  having  adjourned  for  the  holiday  recess,  the  Presiding 
Officers  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  took  the  accus- 
tomary  action  in  arranging  for  the  funeral. 

President  pro  tempore  John  Sherman,  of  the  Senate,,  appointed 
the  following  committee  of  Senators  to  arrange  for  the  funeral:  Sen¬ 
ators  Cullom,  Stanford,  Cockrell,  Allison,  Beck,  Hawley, 
A  oorhees,  Hampton,  and  Manderson. 

Speaker  Carlisle  appointed  the  following  committee  to  co-op¬ 
erate  with  those  appointed  by  the  Presiding  Officer  of  the  Senate : 
Representatives  Thomas,  Springer,  Henderson,  Townshend,  Pay- 
son,  Worthington,  Hitt,  Riggs,  Rowell,  and  Neece,  of  Illinois; 
Reed,  of  Maine;  Curtin,  of  Pennsylvania;  Burrows,  of  Michigan; 
Symes,  of  Colorado;  and  Cary,  of  Wyoming  Territory. 

A  conference  of  the  committee  was  held  and  the  following-named 
gentlemen  were  selected  as  pall-bearers  :  Hon.  Roscoe  Conkling, 
Hon.  Simon  Cameron,  Hon.  Robert  T.  Lincoln,  Mr.  C.  H.  An¬ 
drews,  Col.  Fred.  Grant,  General  Lucius  Fairchild,  General  M. 
D.  Leggett,  Governor  Jeremiah  Rusk,  General  W.  T.  Sherman, 
General  William  F.  Vilas,  General  John  C.  Black,  and  Dr. 
Charles  McMillan,  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  Washington. 

The  body  of  the  dead  Senator  remained  in  the  death  chamber  at 
his  lesidence,  under  military  guard,  until  the  day  set  for  its  removal 
to  the  Capitol,  Thursday,  December  30,  1886. 

Befoie  the  casket  was  removed,  the  family  and  their  immediate 
friends  gathered  around  the  mortal  remains  of  the  heroic  dead,  and 
the  voice  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Newman  was  raised  in  prayer. 

(3) 


SC  <1?/ 


4 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


After  these  brief  services  the  casket,  borne  on  the  shoulders  of  com¬ 
rades  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  was  removed  from  the 
death  chamber  and  conveyed  to  the  Capitol  building,  preceded  by 
the  committees  representing  both  Houses  of  Congress,  a  guard  of 
honor  from  the  various  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  and  civic  organ¬ 
izations  of  the  city,  followed  by  the  family  and  friends  of  the  deceased. 

At  the  Capitol  the  casket,  wrapped  in  the  American  flag,  was  placed 
in  the  rotunda,  resting  upon  a  bier  which  had  served  a  similar  pur¬ 
pose  for  the  remains  of  President  Lincoln,  President  Garfield, 
Chief-Justice  Chase,  Senator  Sumner,  and  Thaddeus  Stevens. 
During  the  afternoon  and  night  and  until  11  o’clock  on  Friday,  thou¬ 
sands  of  people  viewed  the  remains  of  the  dead  Senator,  general,  and 
patriot. 

At  11.45  a.  m.  on  Friday  the  casket  was  carried  to  the  Senate 
Chamber  where  appropriate  funeral  services  were  held.  Judges  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  members  of  the  Cabinet,  Senators  and  Repre¬ 
sentatives,  and  diplomatic  representatives  were  present.  Seats  im¬ 
mediately  in  front  of  the  casket  were  reserved  for  Mrs.  Logan  and 
family  and  relatives. 

Rev.  Dr.  John  P.  Newman,  Chaplain  Butler,  of  the  Senate, 
Bishop  Andrews,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany  were  the  officiating  clergy¬ 
men. 

The  ceremony  was  beautiful,  impressive,  and  touching.  Fragrant 
flowers  with  endearing  mottoes,  the  contribution  of  admiring  friends 
throughout  the  country,  occupied  all .  the  available  space  around 
.about  the  casket. 

Bishop  Andrews  read  the  XC  Psalm.  Rev.  Dr.  Tiffany  offered 
the  prayer,  after  which  Rev.  Dr.  Butler,  Chaplain  of  the  Senate, 
read  the  15th  Chapter  of  Corinthians. 


Rev.  Dr.  John  P.  Newman  then  delivered  the  funeral  sermon. 
He  said : 

Again  is  this  Senate  Chamber  the  shrine  of  a  nation’s  dead. 
Around  us  are  the  emblems  of  national  grief.  Once  more  is  heard 
here  the  measured  step  of  those  who  mourn  the  departure  of  the 
illustrious  soldier,  the  faithful  public  servant,  the  honored  private 
citizen,  the  abiding  friend,  the  devoted  husband,  the  loving  father. 
Only  those  are  thus  honored  at  this  shrine  of  the  Republic  whose 


Funeral  Services , 


virtues,  whose  talents,  whose  services  have  secured  for  them  the  dis¬ 
tinguished  position  of  Senator  of  the  United  States. 

Death  is  no  stranger  to  this  place  of  supreme  legislation.  Six 
times  since  1859,  when  this  Chamber  was  first  occupied,  has  death 
thrown  its  shadow  here.  Here  rested  in  peace  Senator  Hicks,  of 
Maryland;  here  lay  the  form  of  Foot,  of  Vermont,  once  the  Pre¬ 
siding  Officer  of  the  Senate ;  here  was  laid  the  majestic  form  of 
Sumner,  learned,  eloquent,  philanthropic ;  hence  was  borne  by 
friendly  hands  W ilson,  who  came  forth  from  obscurity  to  occupy 
the  second  place  in  the  Government  of  a  free  people ;  and  but  as  yes¬ 
terday  we  stood  here  around  the  bier  of  Miller,  patriot  and  soldier, 
who  sleeps  in  peace  in  the  State  he  loved  so  well. 

And  where  else  than  here,  in  this  place  of  honor,  the  arena  of  his 
greatest  civic  services  and  triumphs,  where  he  displayed  his  eminent 
talents  in  statesmanship,  where  he  was  respected  by  all  for  the 
purity  of  his  intentions,  the  ardor  of  his  patriotism,  the  courage  of 
his  convictions,  the  power  of  his  logic,  and  his  unselfish  devotion  to 
the  public  good — where  else  than  here  should  Logan  be  honored 
with  the  rites  of  burial  ? 

His  was  an  honorable  parentage.  His  father’s  genius  and  his 
mother’s  beauty  blended  in  sweet  harmony  to  bless  his  childhood. 
Irish  brilliancy  and  Scotch  solidity  combined  in  his  temperament, 
while  he  stood  forth  the  true  American  and  the  typical  man  of  the 
West,  of  whom  his  nation  is  justly  proud.  From  them  he  inherited 
his  splendid  physique,  his  capacious  intellect,  his  loyal,  loving,  gen¬ 
erous  heart.  In  that  Christian  home  his  young  intellect  was  devel¬ 
oped,  and  his  young  heart  was  taught  that  divine  religion  from  which 
he  never  wavered ;  and  when  the  homestead  was  broken  up,  all  he 
claimed  and  all  he  took  was  the  old  family  Bible. 

That  Logan  was  a  potent  factor  in  our  national  life  there  can  be 
no  question ;  that  his  death  has  left  a  vacancy  not  easily  filled,  is 
without  dispute ;  that  his  departure  has  changed  the  political  direc¬ 
tion  of  his  country  for  the  next  decade,  perhaps  for  the  next  quarter 
of  a  century,  seems  probable. 

Standing  here  in  the  presence  of  the  Almighty,  and  in  the  shadow 
of  a  great  sorrow,  let  us  leave  eulogy  to  the  fellow-Senators  of  the 
honored  dead,  and  content  ourselves  with  adducing  those  great  les¬ 
sons  from  Logan’s  life  and  character  which  should  make  us  truer 
citizens  and  purer  Christians. 


6 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Macaulay  lias  said  that  “  Men  eminent  in  learning,  in  statesman¬ 
ship,  in  war,  are  not  fully  appreciated  by  their  contemporaries  ;  hut 
posterity  does  not  fail  to  award  them  full  justice.”  A  greater  than 
Macaulay  has  said  :  “A  prophet  is  not  without  honor  save  in  his 
own  country.”  It  is  difficult  for  those  who  have  not  had  the  special 
advantages  of  the  schools  in  early  life  to  gain  a  reputation  for  men¬ 
tal  culture  and  intellectual  attainments  ;  hut  it  is  sufficient  to  say, 
that  whatever  position  Logan  occupied,  he  was  always  in  the  front. 
If  a  strong  reason^  a  sound  judgment,  a  capacious  and  retentive 
memory,  a  vigorous  and  warm  imagination,  and  a  comprehensive 
understanding  are  essential  to  high  intellectuality,  then  Logan 
ranks  among  our  foremost  men.  Others  are  great  in  scientific  at¬ 
tainments,  in  the  polish  of  literature,  in  the  acquisition  of  languages  ; 
hut  who  excelled  him  in  the  useful  information  of  science,  and  liter¬ 
ature,  and  law;  in  knowledge  of  his  country,  its  history,  its  resources, 
its  wants,  its  possibilities,  its  hopes  ? 

Let  his  vast  and  well-cliosen  library,  rich  in  all  learning,  proclaim 
his  love  for  books.  Like  W ebster,  he  had  the  rare  faculty  to  extract 
by  instinct  the  pith  of  a  volume  that  came  to  his  hand.  Intellect¬ 
ually,  his  rivals  underestimated  him,  his  friends  never  fully  appre¬ 
ciated  him,  his  admirers  never  overvalued  him.  He  was  a  prodig¬ 
ious  brain-worker,  indefatigable  in  application,  tireless  in  energy. 
He  called  upon  all  sources  of  knowledge  to  aid  him  in  his  purpose. 
His  was  a  life  of  intellectual  activity.  From  his  admission  to  the 
bar,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  to  his  place  in  his  State  legislature, 
to  his  place  in  Congress,  and  to  his  position  as  Senator,  he  has  left 
the  impress  of  his  intellect  upon  the  legislation  of  this  country 
which  enters  into  its  history  for  the  last  twenty-five  years.  What 
great  measure  of  Congress  is  without  his  honored  name  ?  Future 
generations  will  read  his  utterances  with  wonder  and  admiration. 
His  great  speeches  on  the  “Impeachment,”  on  “Education,”  on 
“The  Army,”  his  eulogy  on  “Thomas,”  his  defense  of  “Grant,”  his 
arraignment  of  “Porter,”  will  be  esteemed  masterful  among  foren¬ 
sic  efforts.  In  all  his  legislative  life  he  was  never  crushed  in  debate. 

Some  men  have  the  flower  of  language  ;  Logan  had  the  flower  of 
thought.  He  had  the  eloquence  of  logic,  and  could  raise  metaphor 
into  argument.  He  resembled  not  so  much  the  beautiful  river  whose 
broad  stream  winds  through  rich  and  varied  scenery,  but  that  which 
cuts  a  deep  and  rapid  channel  through  rugged  rocks  and  frowning 
wilds,  leaving  the  impress  of  its  power  in  the  productiveness  of  the 


Funeral  Services. 


7 


region  through  which  it  passes,  which,  hut  for  it,  would  remain  des¬ 
olate  and  barren.  His  was  not  the  music  of  the  organ,  with  its 
varied  stops  and  mingling  harmonies,  hut  rather  the  sound  of  the 
trumpet,  waxing  louder  and  louder,  piercing  the  caverns  of  the  earth 
and  resounding  through  the  encircling  heavens. 

It  is  a  venerable  saying  of  Scripture,  that  the  “Day  of  a  man’s 
death  is  better  than  the  day  of  his  birth.”  When  in  the  stillness  of 
the  holy  Sabbath  his  noble  soul  left  our  presence,  Logan  was  the 
foremost  statesman  of  the  mighty  West.  And  hereafter  and  forever 
Illinois  will  have  her  illustrious  trinity  of  national  greatness — Lin¬ 
coln,  greatest  of  statesmen ;  Grant,  greatest  of  professional  soldiers  ; 
Logan,  the  greatest  volunteer  General  produced  by  this  country. 

But  wherein  consists  that  strange  charm  of  his  personality,  that 
falls  upon  our  spirits  to-day  like  a  holy  enchantment?  Whence  the 
magic  spell  of  his  presence?  Whence  the  secret  of  the  power  of  that 
one  life  upon  fifty  millions  of  people?  Is  it  sufficient  to  say  that  his 
parentage  was  honorable,  that  his  intellect  was  rich  in  its  acquired 
treasures,  that  he  was  the  foremost  statesman  of  the  West?  Is  it 
sufficient  to  say  that  he  was  a  great  soldier  who  proved  himself  equal 
to  every  command,  that  he  was  never  defeated,  that  he  defeated  de¬ 
feat,  and  achieved  victory  when  all  seemed  lost,  that  from  Belmont 
to  Atlanta,  and  from  Savannah  to  Washington,  when,  at  the  head  of 
the  victorious  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  he  marched  through  the 
avenues  of  the  Capital  of  a  redeemed  country,  he  gave  evidence  of  his 
martial  prowess? 

We  must  look  deeper  and  search  with  keener  insight  for  the  secret 
of  his  immense  power  over  his  countrymen.  His  was  a  changeless 
sincerity.  He  was  never  in  masquerade.  He  was  transparent  to  a 
fault.  He  had  a  window  in  his  heart.  He  was  never  in  disguise. 
He  was  as  you  saw  him.  Never  did  geometrician  bring  proposition 
and  demonstration  in  closer  proximity  than  was  the  correspond¬ 
ence  between  Logan’s  character  and  his  appearance.  He  was 
Logan  every  time.  His  was  the  soul  of  honor.  He  had  an  innate 
contempt  for  everything  low,  mean,  intriguing.  He  was  an  open  and 
an  honorable  foe.  He  had  a  triple  courage,  which  imparted  to  him 
immense  strength.  His  physical  bravery  knew  no  fear.  His  moral 
heroism  was  sublime.  But  above  these  was  the  courage  of  his  intel¬ 
lect.  Some  men  have  brave  souls  in  cowardly  bodies.  The  cheek  of 
others  is  never  blanched  by  physical  danger.  But  few  rise  to  the 


8 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


highest  form  of  courage.  Logan  never  committed  treason  against 
his  intellect.  He  thought  for  himself,  and  spoke  what  he  thought. 
He  was  loyal  to  his  own  conclusions.  Friendship  could  not  deter 
him,  enemies  could  not  make  him  afraid.  A  great  name  could  not 
daunt  him.  He  had  more  caution  than  was  accorded  to  him,  but  it 
was  the  caution  of  intellectual  courage. 

He  was  the  soul  of  honesty.  He  lived  in  times  of  great  corruption, 
when  the  strongest  men  of  both  parties  fell,  either  blasted  by  public 
exposure  or  by  ignorant  denunciation.  But  Logan  was  untouched. 
He  was  above  suspicion.  The  smell  of  fire  was  not  on  his  garments. 
Others  made  fortunes  out  of  the  blood  of  their  countrymen,  hut  after 
five  years  in  war  and  twenty-five  years  in  Congressional  life,  Logan 
was  poor  in  purse,  hut  rich  in  a  good  name.  To  his  only  son,  who 
bears  the  image  and  name  of  his  honored  father,  he  could  have  left 
ill-gotten  fortunes,  but  he  left  him  that  which  is  far  above  rubies. 
Like  Aristides,  Logan  could  say,  “These  hands  are  clean.” 

He  had  a  self-abnegation  which  asked  no  other  reward  than  the  con¬ 
sciousness  of  duty  done.  Loyalty  to  duty  was  his  standard  of  man¬ 
hood.  When  another  was  appointed  to  the  command  which  his 
merits  and  victories  entitled  him  to  have,  he  did  not  sulk  in  his  tent 
of  disappointment,  but  fought  on  for  the  cause  which  was  dearer  than 
promotion.  When  duty  demanded  the  exposure  of  corruption  in  his 
own  party,  he  preferred  his  country  to  partisan  ties.'  When  he  was 
convinced  that  a  distinguished  officer  was  unworthy  a  nation’s  con¬ 
fidence,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  incur  the  displeasure  of  friends  and  the 
denunciation  of  enemies. 

When  in  1862  his  friends  in  Illinois  urged  him  to  leave  the  Army 
and  re-enter  Congress,  he  made  this  reply  : 

No,  I  am  to-day  a  soldier  of  this  Republic — so  to  remain,  changeless  and  immutable, 
until  her  last  and  weakest  enemy  shall  have  expired  and  passed  away.  I  have  en¬ 
tered  the  field  to  die,  if  need  be,  for  this  Government,  and  never  expect  to  return 
to  peaceful  pursuits  until  the  object  of  this  war  of  preservation  has  become  a  fact 
established.  Should  fate  so  ordain  it,  I  will  esteem  it  as  the  highest  privilege  a 
just  Dispenser  can  award  to  shed  the  last  drop  of  blood  in  my  veins  for  the  honor 
of  that  flag  whose  emblems  are  justice,  liberty,  and  truth,  and  which  has  been  and, 
as  I  humbly  trust  in  God,  ever  will  be  for  the  right. 

Oh  !  brave  and  unselfish  soul !  how  thou  hast  been  misunderstood, 
misjudged,  misrepresented,  defamed,  and  wronged  by  those  who, 
to-day,  are  the  beneficiaries  of  thy  noble  life !  These  defamations 
wounded  his  proud  and  sensitive  spirit. 

There  were  times  when  his  ardent  temperament  mastered  his  self- 


Funeral  Services. 


9 


control.  If  he  seemed  to  take  affront  when  assailed  in  debate,  it 
was  for  the  cause  he  represented  and  not  from  personal  pride. 
He  was  a  sensitive,  high-spirited,  chivalric  soul.  He  had  pride 
of  character,  and  power  of  passion.  He  knew  his  power,  but  he 
was  a  stranger  to  vanity.  His  passionate  nature  was  intense. 
His  emotional  being  reserflbled  the  ocean.  The  passions  of  love, 
joy,  hope,  desire,  grief,  hatred,  and  anger  were  strong  to  him.  He 
could  love  like  a  woman,  sport  like  a  child,  hope  like  a  saint.  His 
grief  was  intense,  his  hatred  inveterate.  His  anger  burned  like  a 
mountain  on  fire.  He  reminds  us  of  the  great  reformer,  Luther,  wlm 
alternated  between  profound  calms  and  furious  storms.  His  calms 
were  like  embowered  lakes,  their  placid  bosoms  mirroring  the  over¬ 
hanging  foliage  of  the  grassy  banks.  His  agitations  were  like 
mountain  torrents,  leaping,  dashing,  thundering  down  their  rugged 
courses,  sweeping  all  before  them.  When  coipposed,  the  ocean  of 
his  emotions  was  so  placid  that  a  little  child  might  sail  its  fragile 
boat  thereon ;  but  when  agitated,  the  great  deep  was  troubled,  the 
heavens  scowled,  thunder  answered  thunder,  ethereal  fires  gleamed 
and  burned,  wave  mounted  wave,  and  whole  armaments  were  scat¬ 
tered  before  the  fury  of  the  storm.  This  is  the  key  to  the  warmth 
of  his  friendship  and  the  bitterness  of  his  enmity. 

He  had  an  honorable  ambition,  but  it  was  above  corruption  and 
intrigue.  In  his  manliness  he  did  not  hesitate  to  proclaim  his  de¬ 
sire  nor  disguise  his  noble  aspirations.  From  his  very  nature  he 
became  the  soldier’s  friend.  It  was  his  tenderness  of  heart  that 
made  him  the  friend  of  every  soldier  in  the  war.  In  “  these  piping- 
times  of  peace”  we  forget  those  who  fought  for  us.  Not  so  with 
Logan.  He  carried  the  years  of  the  war  through  each  receding  dec¬ 
ade  and  lived  among  its  stirring  memories.  He  maintained  close 
relations  with  the  veterans.  Thrice  he  was  elected  commander-in¬ 
chief  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic.  As  chairman  of  the 
Committee  on  Military  Affairs  he  was  in  a  position  of  power.  To¬ 
day  the  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  veterans  in  the  Grard 
Army  of  the  Republic,  from  six  thousand  posts,  feel  that  they  have 
lost  a  friend.  To-day  the  six  hundred  and  twenty-two  thousand 
pensioners  bless  his  memory.  To-day  two  hundred  and  thirty  thou¬ 
sand  widows  and  orphans  breathe  a  prayer  to  Heaven  for  the  peace 
of  his  soul.  And  now  the  spirits  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  thou¬ 
sand  patriot  soldiers,  slain  in  the  war,  gather  around  the  gieat  soul 


10 


Life  and  Character'  of  John  A.  Logan. 


of  Logan  and  thank  him  that  on  each  returning  30th  of  May  their 
graves  are  not  forgotten,  hut  are  covered  with  flowers.  The  desig¬ 
nation  of  that  day  for  memorial  service  was  suggested  by  Logan, 
and  he  was  wont  to  say  :  “It  was  the  proudest  act  of  my  life.”  And 
could  the  three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  patriotic  dead  rise  from 
their  graves,  each  with  a  memorial  flower  in  his  hand,  there  would 
rise  a  floral  mountain  to  the  skies,  the  perfume  of  which  would 
ascend  in  gratitude  to  the  God  of  battles.  Logan  deserves  such  a 
mountain  of  flowers.  He  himself  is  a  martyr  of  liberty.  Let  me 
show  those  five  scars  of  the  wounds  he  received  in  battle  for  the 
love  of  his  country. 

Would  you  know  him  in  his  happier  estate  of  gentleness,  tender¬ 
ness,  and  affection,  as  husband  and  father-  go  to  his  home,  where 
purity,  peace,  and  love  reigned  supreme.  There  his  inner  life  was 
displayed  without  restraint.  There  was  his  retreat  from  the  vexa¬ 
tious  cares  of  public  life.  There  was  wedded  love  of  thirty-one 
happy  years.  She  of  his  youthful  pride  and  choice  was  his  supreme 
and  constant  delight.  He  was  her  tower  of  strength;  she  was  the 
joy  of  his  soul.  He  was  her  honorable  pride;  she  the  confidant  of 
his  secret  thoughts.  He  was  faithful  to  his  bridal  vows;  she  recip¬ 
rocated  his  undivided  love.  Such  a  home  was  the  dream  of  his  life. 
Upon  the  western  hills  that  overlook  our  national  capital  he  found 
that  sweet,  sweet  home,  where  he  had  hoped  to  spend  yet  many  a 
happy  year,  and  with  Goldsmith  sing: 

In  all  my  wanderings  round  this  world  of  care, 

In  all  my  griefs,  and  God  lias  given  me  my  share, 

I  still  had  hopes  my  latest  hours  to  crown, 

Amid  these  humble  bowers  to  lay  me  down, 

To  husband  out  life’s  taper  to  its  close, 

And  keep  the  flame  from  wasting  by  repose. 

Around  my  fire  an  evening  group  to  draw, 

And  tell  of  all  I  felt  and  all  I  saw, 

And,  as  a  hare  whom  hounds  and  horns  pursue, 

Pants  to  the  place  from  whence  at  first  he  flew, 

I  still  had  hopes,  my  long  vacations  past, 

Here  to  return,  and  die  at  home  at  last. 

But, 

No  more  for  him  the  blazing  hearth  shall  burn, 

Nor  busy  housewife  ply  her  evening  care, 

Nor  children  lisp  a  sire’s  return, 

Nor  climb  his  knee  the  envied  kiss  to  share.' 

It  is  not  possible  for  us  to  suppose  for  a  moment  that  a  life  so 
magnanimous  and  unselfish,  and  so  beautiful  in  its  domesticity, 


Funeral  Services. 


11 


should  be  without  the  element  of  religion.  Bluff,  sturdy,  honest, 
Logan  was  a  Christian  in  faith  and  practice.  Here  is  his  Bible, 
which  he  read  with  daily  care.  Sincere  and  humble,  he  accepted 
Christ  as  his  personal  Saviour.  When  I  gave  him  the  sacrament  of 
the  Lord’s  Supper,  too  humble  in  spirit  to  kneel  on  the  cushion 
around  the  altar,  he  knelt  on  the  carpet,  and,  with  his  precious 
wife  by  his  side,  received  the  tokens  of  a  Saviour’s  love.  His  manly 
brow  shone  like  polished  marble,  for  he  felt  that  he  was  in  the 
presence  of  the  Searcher  of  all  hearts.  It  was  his  last  sacrament  on 
earth.  Let  us  hope  that  he  will  have  a  eucharist  in  the  skies. 

Standing  by  the  tomb  of  Grant  on  last  Memorial  Day,  Logan  de¬ 
livered  an  oration  on  immortality.  He  called  upon  the  sphinxes 
and  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  upon  the  palaces  of  Sennacherib  and 
Nebuchadnezzar,  upon  the  philosophers  of  Attica  and  the  Cam- 
pagna,  upon  the  mystic  worshipers  of  the  Druids  and  the  pictorial 
monuments  of  the  Mexicans,  upon  the  poets  and  orators  of  the 
world,  to  witness  that  “  hope  springs  immortal  in  the  human  breast,” 
and  demanded  of  them,  “Why  this  longing  after  immortality?” 
And,  rising  above  all  these  in  glory  and  authority,  he  turned  to  the 
Divine  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  and  from  His  blessed  lips  received  the 
sweet  assurance  :  “Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled;  ye  believe  in 
God,  believe  also  in  me.  In  my  Father’s  house  are  many  mansions ; 
I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you.” 

Logan  has  entered  into  the  fruition  of  his  immortality.  He  has 
answered  the  morning  call  of  eternal  life.  He  has  translated  his 
oration  into  a  deathless  experience.  He  has  heard  the  Master  say  : 
“  It  is  enough ;  come  up  higher.” 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  sermon  Rev.  Dr.  Newman  pronounced 
the  benediction. 

Immediately  following  the  funeral  exercises  in  the  Senate  the  pro¬ 
cession  which  was  to  convey  the  remains  to  the  Hutchinson  vault 
at  Rock  Creek  Cemetery,  selected  as  a  temporary  resting  place  for 
the  dead  Senator,  was  formed  by  Sergeant-at-Arms  William  P. 
Canaday,  the  honorary  pall-bearers  first,  and  followed  by  the  active 
pall-bearers  with  the  casket.  Then  Mrs.  Logan,  family  and  rela¬ 
tives,  the  Congressional  committee,  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
Senators  and  Representatives  and  officers  and  employes  of  Congress 

followed  in  the  order  named. 


12 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


The  procession  marched  down  the  north  side  of  the  Capitol  and 
formed  in  the  following  order  : 

Lieutenant-General  P.  H.  Sheridan,  marshal;  chief  of  staff,  Brevet  Brig.  Gen. 
Albert  Ordway,  United  States  Volunteers,  headed  the  line  ;  platoon  of  mounted 
police ;  aids-de-camp,  Lieut.  Col.  M.  V.  Sheridan,  U.  S.  A.  ;  Lieut.  Col.  Sanford 
C.  Kellogg,  U.  S.  A. ;  Lieut.  Col.  Stanhope  K.  Blunt,  U.  S.  A. ;  Brevet  Major 
Emmett  Urell,  U.  S.  V.  ;  carriage  containing  Dr.  Newman. 

FIRST  DIVISION. 

Division  of  Marine  Band  ;  battalion  of  U.  S.  Marine  Corps,  with  arms  reversed  ; 
battalion  of  Third  U.  S.  Artillery,  Col.  H.  G.  Gibson  ;  Light  Battery  C,  Third  U. 
S.  Artillery,  Capt.  J.  G.  Turnbull. 

SECOND  DIVISION. 

Division  of  Marine  Band  ;  detachment  of  United  States  seamen  from  United 
States  Steamer  Albatross,  Lieut.  Commander  W.  W.  Rhoades  ;  District  militia  ; 
Union  Veteran  Corps  ;  Wilson  Post,  of  Baltimore  ;  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  ; 
colored  veterans. 

THIRD  DIVISION. 

Detail  of  ten  Capitol  police,  commanded  by  Captain  Allabaugh  ;  G.  A.  R.  guard 
of  honor  ;  hearse,  drawn  by  four  black  horses  ;  G.  A.  R.  guard  of  honor  ;  carriages, 
two  abreast,  containing  Sergeant-at-Arms  Canaday,  Deputy  Sergeant-at-Arms 
Christie,  Senate  and  House  committees  of  arrangements,  family  of  General  Logan, 
Senators,  Representatives,  officers  of  the  Army  and  Navy,  committee  Mexican 
war  veterans,  committee  Military  Order  Loyal  Legion,  committee  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic,  committee  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  citizens  of  Illinois.  The 
rear  was  brought  up  by  500  clerks  of  the  Pension  Office. 

An  immense  throng  of  people  lined  the  walks  on  both  sides  of  the 
street  as  the  procession  proceeded  on  its  way  to  the  cemetery. 

Just  before  reaching  the  cemetery  several  hundred  old  soldiers 
from  the  Soldiers’  Home  were  formed  in  line  with  uncovered  heads 
to  pay  their  last  tribute  of  respect  to  their  dead  herp  and  com¬ 
mander.  ' 

The  procession  moved  on  to  the  vault  selected  as  a  temporary  rest¬ 
ing  place.  Here  representatives  of  the  military  and  artillery  of  the 
Regular  Army,  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  in  uniform,  civic 
organizations,  and  hundreds  of  people  were  assembled. 

General  W.  T.  Sherman  with  orderly,  General  P.  H;  Sheridan 
and  staff,  and  General  Albert  Ordway  took  up  a  position  in  front 
of  the  tomb. 

While  the  casket  was  being  removed  from  the  hearse  to  the  vault 
the  Marine  Band  rendered  “  Hearer,  my  God,  to  Thee.”  The  widow 
and  children  of  the  illustrious  Senator  remained  in  carriages  imme¬ 
diately  in  front  of  the  tomb.  Standing  near  the  head  of  the  casket 


Funeral  Services . 


13 


Department  Chaplain  Swallow  read  the  burial  service  of  the  Grand 
Army  of  the  Republic.  Surrounding  the  casket  stood  members  of 
the  Cabinet,  Senators  and  Representatives,  Army  officers,  and  old 
veterans  of  the  war,  who  listened  attentively  to  the  beautiful  burial 
service  of  the  Nation’s  defenders. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Newman  then  impressively  repeated  the  Lord’s 
Prayer.  A  trumpeter  of  the  Regular  Army  then,  standing  at  the 
entrance  to  the  tomb,  raised  the  instrument  to  his  lips  and  broke  the 
solemn  silence  with  the  last  farewell  “taps”  (lights  out) — a  brave 
soldier’s  rest.  And  thus  all  that  remained  of  the  once  fearless, 
patriotic  soldier;  the  incorruptible,  high-minded,  honorable  states¬ 
man;  the  loving,  affectionate,  devoted  husband  and  father,  was  laid 
away  to  rest  among  those  who  had  gone  “before.” 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  SENATE. 

WEDNESDAY,  FEBKUAKY  9, 1887. 

\ 


PRAYER. 

Blessed  be  tbe  God  and  Father  of  onr  Lord  Jesns  Christ,  who, 
according  to  His  abundant  mercy,  hath  begotten  in  us  a  living  hope 
by  the  resurrection  of  Jesns  Christ  from  the  dead  to  an  inheritance 
incorruptible  and  undefiled,  and  that  fadetli  not  away. 

Let  the  words  of  our  lips  and  the  meditation  of  onr  hearts  be 
acceptable  in  Thy  sight,  O  Lord,  onr  strength  and  onr  Redeemer. 
And  as  we  turn  away  from  the  open  grave  with  sympathizing  hearts 
may  we  ever  be  filled  with  the  spirit  of  Him  who  is  touched  with 
the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  the  great  Redeemer,  the  conqueror 
of  death,  who  livetli  and  reigneth  forever. 

Inspire  us,  we  pray  Thee,  with  courage  and  with  faith,  as  from 
day  to  day  we  meet  the  responsibilities  and  trials  and  temptations 
incident  to  this  mortal  life.  Fill  us  ever  with  Thy  Good  Spirit,  sanc¬ 
tifying  Thy  providences,  comforting  those  who  are  in  sorrow,  O  Thou 
judge  of  the  widow  and  Thou  father  of  the  fatherless  ones,  enabling 
us  to  meet  the  duties  of  each  day  with  courage,  with  fortitude,  with 
faith,  and  with  patience,  so  serving  our  generation  that  when  we 
shall  fall  asleep  we  may  enter  upon  the  everlasting  rest.  Blot  out 
all  our  transgressions,  and  grant  us  grace  and  peace.  Our  Father, 
who  art  in  heaven,  hallowed  be  Thy  name;  Thy  kingdom  come,  Thy 
will  be  done  upon  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  Give  us  this  day  our 
daily  bread.  Forgive  us  our  trespasses  as  we  forgive  those  who 
trespass  against  us.  Lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver  us 
from  evil;  for  Thine  is  the  kingdom,  the  power,  and  the  glory,  for 
ever  and  ever.  Amen. 


(15) 


16 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


DEATH  OF  SENATOR  LOGAN. 

Mr.  Cullom.  Mr.  President,  I  ask  leave  to  introduce  resolu¬ 
tions  at  this  time. 

The  President  pro  tempore.  The  Senator  from  Illinois  pre¬ 
sents  resolutions,  which  will  be  read. 

The  Chief  Clerk  read  as  follows: 

Resolved  by  the  Senate,  That  as  an  additional  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of 
John  A.  Logan,  long  a  Senator  from  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  a  distinguished  mem¬ 
ber  of  this  body,  business  be  now  suspended,  that  the  friends  and  associates  of  the 
deceased  may  pay  fitting  tribute  to  his  public  and  private  virtues. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  be  directed  to  communicate  these  res¬ 
olutions  to  the  House  of  Representatives  and  to  furnish  an  engrossed  copy  of  the 
same  to  the  family  of  the  dt  ceased  Senator. 


Address  of  Mr.  Cullom,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  President:  For  the  third  time  within  a  year  we  are  called 
upon  to  raise  our  voices  reverently  in  speaking  of  our  dead.  For 
the  third  time  within  a  year  death  has  laid  his  icy  finger  on  a  brother 
.Senator  and  beckoned  him  to  the  unknown  realms  of  eternity. 

To-day  we  lay  our  tribute  of  love  upon  the  tomb  of  Logan. 

Suffering  from  a  sense  of  personal  loss  too  deep  to  find  expression, 
1  despair  of  being  able  to  render  adequate  praise  to  his  memory. 

But  yesterday,  as  it  seems,  he  stood  among  us  here  in  the  full  flush 
•of  robust  manhood.  A  giant  in  strength  and  endurance,  with  a  will 
of  iron,  and  a  constitution  tough  as  the  sturdy  oak,  he  seemed  to 
Fold  within  his  grasp  more  than  the  three  score  years  and  ten  alloted 
to  man.  No  one  thought  in  the  same  moment  of  Logan  and  death — 
two  conquerors  who  should  come  face  to  face,  and  the  weaker  yield 
to  the  stronger.  It  seemed  as  if  Logan  could  not  die.  Yet,  in  a 
moment,  almost  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  “God’s  finger  touched 
him,  and  he  slept.” 

Almost  without  warning  he  passed  from  strength  to  weakness ;  to 
death  and  decay,  from  life  pulsating  with  vigor  to  dare  and  to  do. 
The  physician’s  skill,  the  loving,  agonized,  devotion  of  those  most 
dear,  his  own  invincible  will,  were  alike  powerless  to  resist  the  ap¬ 
proach  of  the  grim  destroyer  who  stole  upon  him  “as  a  thief  in  the 
night,”  and  has  given  us  another  striking  warning  of  the  fact  that 
"“No  king  nor  nation  one  moment  can  retard  the  appointed  hour.” 


Address  of  Mr.  Cullom,  of  Illinois. 


17 


John  Alexander  Logan  was  born  on  a  farm  located  in  what  is 

now  the  town  of  Murphysborough,  in  Jackson  County,  Illinois,  on 
% 

February  9,  1826.  Had  he  lived  until  to-day,  sixty-one  years — event¬ 
ful,  glorious  years — would  have  rested  their  burden  as  a  crown  upon 
his  head.  Life  is  a  crucible  into  which  we  are  thrown  to  be  tried. 
How  many  but  prove  the  presence  of  alloy  so  base  that  refining  “  seven 
times  ”  can  not  purify.  But  here  was  a  life  generous  and  noble,  an 
open  book  from  which  friend  and  foe  alike  might  read  the  character 
of  the  man. 

General  Logan  was  the  eldest  of  a  family  of  eleven  children.  His 
father,  Dr.  John  Logan,  was  born  in  the  north  of  Ireland  of  Scotch 
ancestry,  and  came  to  this  country  early  in  this  century.  He  first 
settled  in  Maryland  and  then  in  Missouri,  afterward  moving  to  Illi¬ 
nois  and  locating  in  Jackson  County.  There  he  met  and  married 
Miss  Elizabeth  Jenkins,  who  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  but 
came  of  a  Scotch  family.  Dr.  Logan  was  a  man  of  marked  charac¬ 
teristics,  and  a  physician  and  surgeon  of  unusual  skill. 

He  was  noted  for  his  integrity,  his  sturdy  independence  of  charac¬ 
ter,  his  devotion  to  his  friends,  and  his  recognition  of  the  equality 
of  all  men  who  were  honest  and  upright,  without  regard  to  their  so¬ 
cial  position.  His  wife  was  a  woman  of  determined  courage,  strong 
in  her  prejudices,  who  never  swerved  from  the  path  she  had  once 
marked  out  for  herself.  The  characteristics  of  the  father  and  mother 
were  conspicuously  combined  in  the  son,  who  owed  his  success  in 
life  largely  to  the  possession  of  the  traits  most  prominent  in  the 
character  of  both  his  father  and  his  mother. 

The  professional  services  of  Dr.  Logan  were  in  such  demand  that 
he  had  little  time  to  devote  to  the  care  of  his  farm  or  the  education 
of  his  children,  but  he  was  an  educated  and  studious  man,  and  gave 
his  children  the  best  educational  facilities  he  could  command.  In 
those  days  money  and  schools  were  scarce  in  that  new  country,  and 
the  education  of  the  youth  was  not  considered  so  essential  as  it  is 
to-day,  but  Dr.  Logan  managed  to  secure  the  services  of  a  tutor  who 
resided  in  the  family  and  trained  the  children  in  the  branches  not 
taught  in  the  schools  of  that  day,  including  the  rudiments  of  Greek 
and  Latin.  While  young  Logan  failed  to  receive  such  a  classical 
training  as  a  regular  college  course  gives,  he  was  eager  and  quick 
to  learn,  and  made  the  most  of  his  opportunities. 

Reared  upon  a  farm  under  such  circumstances,  his  character  was 
2  L 


18 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


unconsciously  molded  and  formed  by  surroundings  similar  to  those 
which  gave  to  Lincoln  that  strength  and  steadfastness  which  served 
him  so  well  in  later  years.  The  men  with  whom  young  Logan  came 
in  contact  during  his  boyhood  were  generally  without  the  refinements 
of  life,  but  they  were  rugged,  sturdy,  and  self-reliant,  of  powerful 
physique  and  healthy  intellects.  His  association  with  these  vigorous, 
hardy  pioneers  of  civilization  imbued  the  young  man  with  uncon¬ 
querable  energy,  indomitable  will,  and  a  stern  sense  of  honor  which, 
through  his  manhood  to  the  end  of  his  life,  made  him  a  master  spirit 
among  men. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  was  sent  to  Shiloh  College,  and  subse¬ 
quently  added  to  the  education  obtained  there  whatever  he  could 
glean  from  the  books  within  his  reach.  When  barely  of  age  he 
made  his  entrance  into  manhood  upon  the  field  of  battle. 

When  the  Mexican  war  broke  out  young  Logan  plunged  into  it 
with  all  the  fire  and  enthusiasm  of  his  nature,  enlisting  in  the  First 
Illinois  Volunteer  Infantry.  Though  then  but  twenty  years  of  age, 
he  served  with  distinction,  and  by  the  end  of  the  war  had  become 
quartermaster  of  his  regiment.  This  beginning  of  his  career  might 

have  been  to  him  an  omen  of  future  fame  to  be  won  on  fields  of 

• 

blood.  On  returning  home  he  was  received  as  a  student  in  the  law 
office  of  Alexander  M.  Jenkins,  his  mother’s  brother,  but,  being  an 
ardent  admirer  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Logan  soon  became  fasci¬ 
nated  with  political  life,  and  in  less  than  a  year  was  elected  clerk  of 
Jackson  County. 

In  1850  he  became  a  student  in  the  law  department  of  Louisville 
University,  graduating  in  the  spring  of  1851,  and  entering  upon  the 
practice  of  law  at  Murphysborough  in  partnership  with  his  uncle. 
In  1852  he  was  elected  to  the  State  legislature,  and  soon  afterwards  to 
the  office  of  prosecuting  attorney  for  the  judicial  district  in  which 
he  resided.  In  this  position  he  was  called  upon  to  prosecute  some 
remarkable  criminal  cases,  and  it  is  a  notable  fact  that  he  secured  a 
conviction  in  all  the  cases  which  he  prosecuted  and  tried. 

On  the  27th  of  November,  1855,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  S. 
Cunningham,  a  daughter  of  Capt.  J.  M.  Cunningham,  and  estab¬ 
lished  his  home  and  law  office  in  Benton,  in  the  adjoining  county  of 
Franklin.  In  1856  he  was  again  elected  to  the  State  legislature ; 
and  it  was  during  the  session  of  1857  that  it  became  my  privilege  to 
become  acquainted  with  this  remarkable  man,  who  at  that  time 
demonstrated  his  power  as  a  leader. 


Address  of  Mr.  Cullom,  of  Illinois. 


19 


In  1858  Mr.  Logan  was  elected  to  represent  his  district  in  Con¬ 
gress,  and  from  the  time  he  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Repre¬ 
sentatives  his  rise  was  rapid  and  his  public  career  became  known  to 
the  country. 

He  had  not  been  cradled  in  luxury.  Fortune  had  not  been  espe¬ 
cially  kind  to  him,  but  he  had  been  bred  honest  to  the  core,  was  in¬ 
capable  of  meanness,  and  among  the  strong  men  of  that  Congress 
the  young,  resolute,  courageous  representative  from  Illinois  held 
his  own.  He  was  again  elected  to  Congress  in  1860,  when  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  elected  President.  Logan  was  elected  as  a  Douglas 
Democrat,  and  had  advocated  the  election  of  Douglas  to  the  Presi¬ 
dency  with  all  his  power  before  the  people.  When  Lincoln  was 
elected  and  mutterings  of  rebellion  and  whisperings  of  secession 
were  heard,  the  fire  of  patriotism  began  to  burn  in  his  breast,  and 
on  the  floor  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  on  the  5th  of  February, 
1861,  before  the  inauguration  of  President  Lincoln,  he  defined  his 
position  upon  the  burning  question  of  the  hour  in  the  following  un¬ 
mistakable  terms : 

I  have  been  taught — 

He  said — 

that  the  preservation  of  this  glorious  Union,  with  its  broad  flag  waving  over  us  as 
the  shield  of  our  protection  on  land  and  sea,  is  paramount  to  all  parties  and  plat¬ 
forms  that  ever  have  existed  or  ever  can  exist.  I  would  to-day,  if  I  had  the  power, 
sink  my  own  party  and  every  other  one,  with  all  then’  platforms,  into  the  vortex 
of  ruin,  without  heaving  a  sigh  or  shedding  a  tear,  to  save  the  Union,  or  even  to 
stay  the  revolution  where  it  is. 

What  a  declaration  of  unselfish  patriotism !  Placing  party  and 
platforms  under  his  feet,  he  was  first  of  all  for  the  Union  and  the 
flag,  which  were  dearer  than  all  else  to  him.  With  the  flash  of  the 
first  gun  which  thundered  its  doom  upon  Sumter  he  was  up  and  in 
arms.  Consecrating  all  the  energy  of  his  ardent  nature  to  the  cause 
of  the  Union,  he  left  his  seat  in  Congress,  saying  he  could  best  serve 
his  country  in  the  field.  Falling  into  the  ranks  of  the  Union  Army  he 
took  his  part  as  a  civilian  volunteer  in  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run. 

To  describe  the  part  he  took  in  the  late  war  after  he  raised  the 
Thirty-first  Illinois  Regiment  and  took  the  field  would  be  to  recite 
the  history  of  the  war  itself — a  story  impressed  as  in  letters  of  fire 
upon  the  memory  of  the  American  people.  The  record  of  his  bravery 
at  Belmont;  of  his  gallant  charge  at  Fort  Donelson,  where,  as  a 
colonel,  he  was  dangerously  wounded;  of  his  service  as  major- 


20  Life  and,  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

general  commanding  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee ;  of  the  memorable 
siege  of  Vicksburg,  when,  with  the  great  leader  of  the  Union  armies, 
he  stood  knocking  at  the  door  of  that  invincible  stronghold ;  of  his 
service  with  the  gallant  Sherman  in  his  famous  march  to  the 
sea  _ all  are  written  on  the  pages  of  history  to  lend  undying  luster 

to  the  name  of  Logan. 

It  is  said  that  poets  are  born,  not  made.  So  it  may  be  truly  said 
that  General  Logan  was  a  natural  soldier.  Every  instinct  within 
him  was  inspired  with  fervid  love  of  his  country.  His  figure  was 
massive,  his  shoulders  broad,  his  presence  commanding ,  with  his 
swarthy  face  and  coal-black  hair,  and  “eye  like  Mars  to  threaten  or 
command,”  he  was  every  inch  a  warrior.  The  soldiers  of  the  late 
war  believed  in  him  as  a  leader  in  the  field,  and  those  of  that  great 
Union  Army  who  survive  him  mourn  his  loss  to-day  as  their  nearest, 
most  earnest,  ablest,  and  most  devoted  friend. 

During  the  war  General  Logan  rose  by  regular  promotion  through 
every  grade  from  colonel  to  the  highest  rank,  save  that  of  lieutenant- 
general,  that  the  nation  could  bestow  in  recognition  of  his  bravery 
and  great  capacity  as  an  officer.  How  appropriately  the  words 
which,  on  April  6,  1870,  he  pronounced  in  eulogy  of  that  other  great 
soldier,  General  George  H.  Thomas,  can  now  be  applied  to  himself. 
On  that  occasion  General  Logan  said  of  General  Thomas,  as  we  can 
now  say  of  him  : 

He  has  gone.  Grief  sits  visibly  on  every  soldier’s  brow  and  pervades  every  loyal 
heart  of  the  nation.  His  noble  form  lies  low,  ready  to  be  committed  to  its  kindred 
dust.  Earth  never  received  into  her  bosom  a  manlier  form  or  a  nobler  breast.  The 
halo  of  his  deeds  and  brilliancy  of  his  achievements  may  almost  be  said  to  illumi¬ 
nate  the  grave  into  which  his  body  descends,  and  the  fragrance  of  his  acts  of  kind¬ 
ness  perfumes  his  sepulcher.  He  has  gone  from  our  sight,  but  not  from  our  hearts 
and  our  memory ;  he  must  live  on,  embalmed  by  our  love  and  garlanded  with  our 
affection,  his  name  growing  brighter  and  brighter  as  time  rolls  on.  The  cold 
marble  bears  in  mockery  a  name  forgotten  but  for  the  letters  chiseled  on  the  icy 
slab.  It  can  not  be  so  with  the  name  of  General  George  Henry  Thomas,  which  is 
chiseled  on  the  tablets  of  too  many  hearts  to  need  the  aid  of  marble  or  bronze  to 
perpetuate  it. 

Is  it  enough  to  say  of  General  Logan  that  he  was  the  greatest  vol¬ 
unteer  general  of  the  Union  Army  ?  By  no  means.  A  quarter  of  a 
century  and  more  has  passed  since  that  terrible  struggle,  and  civil 
honors  were  won  by  him  during  that  period  as  rapidly  as  military 
ones  were  won  during  the  war.  When  gentle  peace,  which  “  hath 
her  victories  no  less  renown’ d  than  those  of  war,”  returned,  he  was 


Address  of  Mr.  Cullom,  of  Illinois.  21 

at  once  called  to  again  take  his  place  in  the  councils  of  the  nation. 
Twice  elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  since  the  war  and 
three  times  chosen  by  the  legislature  of  his  State  to  represent  it  in 
the  Senate,  it  may  be  truly  said  that  General  Logan  spent  his  life 
in  the  active  service  of  his  country.  He  was  a  man  of  high  honor 
and  singular  boldness  and  frankness  of  character.  He  made  no  con¬ 
cealments.  He  always  fought  openly  and  above  board.  His  integ¬ 
rity  was  beyond  the  whisper  of  suspicion. 

He  was  aggressive  and  impulsive  with  the  courage  of  his  convic¬ 
tions.  Eager  to  do,  tireless  in  effort,  persistent  in  purpose,  by  his 
indomitable  will  be  made  each  obstacle  in  his  path  d  stepping-stone 
to  greater  things.  The  more  he  was  antagonized  the  stronger  he 
became,  and,  as  in  battle,  he  pushed  on  until  his  enemies  gave  way 
and  left  him  master  of  the  situation.  Goethe  has  said  that  “  he  who 
is  firm  in  will  molds  the  world  to  himself”;  and  so  it  could  be  said 
of  Logan,  who  had  become  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  prominent 
factors  in  national  affairs. 

As  a  Senator  he  devoted  himself  steadfastly  to  the  duties  which 
crowd  a  Senatorial  life,  never  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  the  appeals  of 
his  constituents,  or  from  whatever  quarter  of  the  country  they  came. 
He  was  a  ready  speaker,  full  of  energy  and  forceful  in  manner,  and 
when  aroused  by  debate  and  the  importance  of  the  subject  he  would 
pour  forth  thoughts  that  breathe  and  words  that  burn  into  the  ears 
of  his  hearers. 

Many  passages  may  be  selected  from  General  Logan’s  writings 
and  addresses  which  exhibit  his  ardent  patriotism  and  love  for  the 
Union.  In  a  letter  to  his  friend,  General  Haynie,  a  gallant  Union 
soldier,  on  December  31,  1861,  he  said  : 

I  am  for  the  Union,  and  for  maintaining  it,  if  such  a  thing  is  possible,  and  am 
uncompromisingly  opposed  to  any  man  or  set  of  men  that  countenance  disunion, 
with  its  horrible  consequences.  There  is  no  sacrifice  I  would  not  make  for  it.  I 
have  no  opinions  that  I  am  so  wedded  to  that  I  would  not  modify  them  in  any  way, 
consistent  with  the  honor  of  my  constituents  and  myself,  to  give  peace  to  the  country. 

Again  he  said,  in  an  address  to  the  people  of  Chicago,  on  August 
10,  1863,  while  fresh  from  the  field  of  battle  : 

I  do  not  propose  to  discuss  party  politics  or  questions  with  a  view  to  the  advance¬ 
ment  of  any  party  organization,  but  desire  only  to  speak  to  you  with  reference  to 
the  troubles  that  now  environ  the  country  and  threaten  the  perpetuity  of  the  Gov¬ 
ernment.  *  *  *  In  this  war  I  know  no  party.  *  *  *  Although  I  have  always 
been  a  Democrat,  and  cherish  the  doctrines  of  that  old  and  honored  party,  yet  in 
this  contest  I  was  for  any  man,  let  him  belong  to  whatever  party  he  might,  who 
was  for  his  country. 


22  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

Being  criticised  for  being  an  Abolitionist,  General  Logan  said  : 

If  it  makes  a  man  an  Abolitionist  to  love  his  country,  then  I  love  my  country, 
and  am  willing  to  live  for  it  and  willing  to  die  for  it. 

General  Logan’s  devotion  to  his  country  was  the  moving  impulse 
of  his  heart,  and  he  was  willing,  from  the  hour  in  which  he  saw  the 
danger  threatening  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union,  to  give  his  life  to 
save  it.  When  the  war  was  over  and  the  integrity  of  the  Union  had 
been  maintained,  when  he  had  laid  aside  his  victorious  sword,  he 
used  the  following  language  in  a  speech  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  on  July 
21,  1865  : 

Peace  has  come  at  last.  *  *  *  The  dark  clouds  of  war  that  have  been  piling 
in  terrific  grandeur  along  the  southern  horizon  for  four  long  years,  and  ever  and 
anon  bursting  with  fatal  and  fearful  fury  upon  the  land,  have  at  last,  heaven  be 
praised,  rolled  away.  “  The  trumpet  clangor  and  the  cannon’s  roar  resound  no 
longer  from  embattled  plains.”  God  grant  that  they  never  may  again  ;  that  it  may 
be  as  literally  true  of  the  soldiers  who  survive  as  it  is  bound  to  be  of  those  who 
“  sleep  then-  sleep  ”  that  they  have  all  “  fought  their  last  battle.” 

Like  his  great  and  true  friend,  General  Grant,  while  General 
Logan  was  a  great  soldier,  he  did  not  love  war,  but  with  a  heart  full 
of  human  sympathy  he  loved  peace  and  preferred  her  victories  to 
those  of  war.  Logan  had  a  tender  and  sympathetic  nature.  His 
heart  was  full  of  sorrow  for  the  sick,  the  wounded,  and  the  dying 
soldiers  who  were  constantly  around  him  He  regarded  the  institu¬ 
tion  of  slavery  as  the  cause  of  the  war  and  all  its  attendant  distress, 
and  in  the  address  at  Louisville  already  referred  to  he  used  these 
graphic  words : 

Oh,  that  I  had  the  power  to  bring  together  all  the  slaveholders  of  the  land,  and 
have  them  look  on  in  solemn  silence  while  the  cripples,  the  widows,  and  orphans 
that  have  been  made  by  this  war  could  pass  before  them  in  grand  review  and  tell 
their  tales  of  misery  and  woe  that  slavery  has  brought  upon  them.  Were  their 
hearts  not  made  of  stone  they  would  melt  while  gazing  at  such  a  scene,  and  with 
one  voice  they  must  cry  out :  “  Let  the  land  be  at  once  rid  of  the  curse  that  has 
caused  such  a  dreadful  scene  as  this.  ” 

General  Logan’s  earnest  feeling  in  regard  to  those  who  fought  to 
preserve  the  Union  are  illustrated  by  a  statement  made  in  a  speech  in 
the  other  wing  of  this  Capitol  in  1867,  when,  in  speaking  on  the  subject 
of  the  reconstruction  of  the  States  that  had  been  in  rebellion,  he  said : 

God  forbid  that  the  day  shall  ever  dawn  upon  this  Republic  when  the  patriots 
whose  patriotism  won  them  crutches  and  wooden  limbs  shall  have  apologies  and 
explanations  to  make  for  their  public  conduct! 

Mr.  President,  I  make  these  few  quotations  from  the  many  strik¬ 
ing  passages  that  illuminate  General  Logan’s  addresses  in  Congress 


Address  of  Mr.  Cullom,  of  Illinois. 


23 


and  to  the  people  to  show  how  earnest  and  undivided  was  his  devo¬ 
tion  to  his  country,  his  love  for  his  companions  in  arms,  and  his  op¬ 
position  to  slavery  as  the  cause  of  the  war. 

General  Logan  was  the  idol  of  the  volunteer  soldiers  of  the  late 
war,  and  since  the  war  closed  no  man  in  the  nation  has  been  so  uni¬ 
versally  recognized  by  them  as  a  friend  upon  whom  they  could  con¬ 
fidently  rely  for  help  as  he  was.  His  heart  went  out  to  them  and 
theirs  to  him.  On  one  occasion  he  said  : 

My  consent  can  never  be  commanded  to  ignore  the  claims  that  I  feel  the  gallant 
dead  who  fell  fighting  under  our  flag  have  upon  my  devotion  to  their  fame  while 
I  live.  i 

The  death  of  no  man  since  the  war  has  been  so  sorrowfully 
mourned  by  the  volunteer  soldiery  of  the  Union  as  has  been  the 
death  of  General  Logan.  The  soldier  of  that  grand  army  mourns 
his  loss  to-day  as  “  one  who  will  not  be  comforted.” 

You  will  call  to  mind,  Mr.  President,  General  Logan’s  speeches 
on  education,  on  the  needs  of  the  Army,  his  defense  of  General 
Grant,  and  his  arraignment  of  General  Fitz  John  Porter.  These 
constitute  an  important  part  of  the  records  of  Senatorial  debates,  and 
should  be  classed  among  the  ablest  and  most  exhaustive  speeches 
ever  made  in  the  Senate.  As  a  political  leader  General  Logan  was 
conspicuously  successful. 

He  was  naturally  in  the  front  rank,  whether  on  the  field  of  battle 
or  in  political  contests.  Living  in  an  era  when  corruption  was  not 
uncommon,  when  strong  men  of  both  parties  sometimes  stood  aghast 
and  saw  their  reputations  blasted  by  public  exposure,  he  remained 
throughout  his  long  public  career  above  suspicion.  Wealth  could 
not  tempt  him  to  soil  his  spotless  name.  He  never  used  the  oppor¬ 
tunities  of  his  official  position  as  a  means  of  obtaining  gold.  He  died 
as  he  had  lived,  a  poor  man. 

Throughout  his  long  and  conspicuous  public  career  he  came  many 
times  before  the  people,  but  there  never  was  a  ghost  of  dishonor  in 
his  past  to  rise  up  and  cry  upon  him  shame.  May  his  children  “re¬ 
joice  and  be  glad”  in  the  example  of  a  father  of  whom  the  whole 
nation  could  rise  up  and  say,  “There  was  an  honest  man.” 

But  let  us  not  indulge  in  adulation.  General  Logan  was  not  a  per¬ 
fect  man.  Faults  had  he,  “child  of  Adam’s  stem,”  but  they  were 
small,  and  served  by  comparison  but  to  enhance  his  virtues.  His 
prejudices  were  sometimes  narrow,  but  he  was  never  a  hypocrite. 


24  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

He  never  professed  to  be  what  be  was  not.  He  sometimes  erred,  for 
he  was  possessed  of  like  passions  with  other  men.  He  sometimes 
alienated  a  friend,  as  every  strong,  independent  man  must  in  the 
course  of  a  public  career.  He  had  his  bitter  enemies,  but,  in  the 
words  of  a  revered  and  venerable  friend  of  General  Logan’s,  ex- 
Senator  Simon  Cameron,  “  a  man  who  makes  no  enemies  is  never  a 
positive  force.”  Logan  was  a  positive  force.  He  took  his  position 
on  questions  as  they  came  up,  and  was  always  ready  to  defend  it  with 
all  his  power. 

Mr.  President,  few  men  in  American  history  have  left  so  positive 
an  impress  on  the  public  mind  and  so  glorious  a  record  to  be  known 
and  read  of  all  men  as  has  General  Logan.  The  pen  of  the  historian 
cannot  fail  to  write  the  name  of  Logan  as  one  prominently  identified 
with  the  great  movements  and  measures  which  have  saved  the  Union 
and  made  the  nation  free  and  great  and  glorious  within  the  last  thirty 
years. 

Like  Lincoln,  his  heart  and  hand  were  ever  for  the  ,people.  He 
came  up  from  the  ranks  of  the  people,  believed  in  the  purity  and  in¬ 
tegrity  of  the  masses,  and  was  always  ready  and  eager  to  speak  for 
them.  He  was  a  true  republican  and  believed  firmly  in  republican 
government.  He  despised  tyranny  in  all  its  forms  wherever  he  found 
it.  He  was  always  true  to  his  convictions  and  to  his  friends,  and  no 
power  or  influence  could  induce  him  to  forsake  either. 

His  sturdy  character  has  been  so  often  demonstrated  upon  this 
floor  and  in  his  work  and  in  his  powerful  speeches  in  every  part  of 
the  country,  always  showing  his  most  earnest  devotion  to  the  Union, 
his  never  flagging  zeal  in  behalf  of  his  comrades-in-arms,  his  love  of 
liberty  and  human  equality,  his  belief  in  universal  education  as  in 
the  interest  of  the  happiness  of  the  people  and  of  the  perpetuity  of 
republican  government,  his  adherence  at  all  times  to  his  convictions 
of  duty,  his  unfaltering  determination  to  stand  by  his  friends — that 
it  seems  needless  for  me  to  dwell  upon  it  longer. 

In  his  remarks  in  this  Senate  upon  an  occasion  similar  to  this,  in 
speaking  of  a  once  distinguished  member  of  this  body,  the  lamented 
Chandler,  General  Logan  used  the  following  language: 

’Tis  true  the  grave  in  its  silence  gives  forth  no  voice  nor  whispers  of  the  morrow, 
but  there  is  a  voice  borne  upon  the  lips  of  the  morning  zephyrs  that  lets  fall  a 
whisper,  quickening  the  heart  with  a  knowledge  that  there  is  an  abode  beyond  the 
tomb.  Sir,  our  lamps  are  burning  now,  some  more  brightly  than  others ;  some 
shed  their  light  from  the  mountain’s  top,  others  from  the  lowly  vales  ;  but  let  us 


Address  of  Mr.  Cullom,  of  Illinois.  25 

so  trim  them  that  they  may  all  burn  with  equal  brilliancy  when  relighted  in  our 
mansions  beyond  the  mysterious  river. 

I  fondly  hope,  sir,  that  there  we  will  again  meet  our  departed  friend. 

Mr.  President,  he  who  uttered  those  tender  words,  thus  giving  ex¬ 
pression  to  his  faith  in  the  hereafter  and  to  his  love  of  his  departed 
friend,  has  gone  to  join  him  in  the  mansions  beyond  the  mysterious 
river,  may  we  not  trust  in  that  better  land  where  there  is  no  more 
pain  nor  suffering  nor  sorrow,  but  in  the  mansions  of  eternal  bliss. 

As  time  passes  and  the  men  who  did  the  most  in  the  late  terrible 
civil  war  pass  rapidly  away  one  by  one  we  have  the  consolation  of 
knowing  that  they  leave  to  us  a  united  country,  with  the  Union  of 
the  States  restored  and  liberty  secured  to  all  the  people,  to  be  trans¬ 
mitted  by  us  to  those  who  come  after  as  a  glorious  inheritance. 

Death  is  a  good  Samaritan,  throwing  the  mantle  of  charity  over 
the  faults  of  men,  burying  in  oblivion  the  sins  of  the  flesh,  and  bid¬ 
ding  their  good  deeds  “live  after  them.” 

And  now  we  stand  as  at  an  open  grave  to  say  our  last  farewell. 
Here  was  a  man  who  could  ill  be  spared  to  country,  friends,  or  home. 
“Our  life  is  scarce  the  twinkling  of  a  star  in  God’s  eternal  day,” yet 
we  bow  in  resignation  to  the  Divine  decree  when  the  summons  comes 
to  one  weary  with  the  burden  of  years  and  with  labors  ended.  But 
to  see  the  darkness  fall  at  noon-time,  the  sun  go  down  while  we  look 
for  a  brighter  day,  is  a  mystery  of  Providence  too  deep  for  human 
comprehension. 

When  death  claims  the  strong  and  great,  those  to  whom  we  look 
for  help  and  strength,  we  ask,  why,  why  was  he  taken,  and  cannot 
understand  the  dealings  of  an  Infinite  Wisdom.  As  the  autumn 
leaves  drop  and  enrich  the  soil,  so  are  the  great  men  of  our  nation 
falling  by  the  way,  leaving  a  golden  heritage  of  honored  names  and 
fame  to  generations  yet  unborn. 

Our  friend  and  brother  has  crossed  to  the  other  shore  to  join  the 
immortal  throng.  He  has  left  a  desolate  hearthstone,  a  loved  com¬ 
panion,  prostrate  in  her  grief,  refusing  to  be  comforted.  His  con¬ 
flicts  are  over.  He  is  at  peace  “where  the  wicked  cease  from  troub¬ 
ling  and  the  weary  are  at  rest.” 

In  halls  of  state  lie  stood  for  many  years, 

Like  fabled  knight,  liis  visage  all  aglow! 

Receiving,  giving  sternly,  blow  for  blow! 

Champion  of  right!  But  from  eternity’s  far  shore 
Thy  spirit  will  return  to  join  the  strife  no  more. 

Rest,  soldier-statesman,  rest ;  thy  troubled  life  is  o’er. 


26 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Address  of  Mr.  Morgan,  of  Alabama. 

Mr.  President:  This  is  not  an  unmeaning  ceremonial.  The  Senate 
has  not  paused  in  its  great  labors  and  arrested  its  important  service 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States  for  the  purpose  merely  of  indulg- 
ing’in  passing  eulogistic  remarks  upon  the  character  of  our  brother 
who  has  left  us ;  but  we  consider  that  it  is  due  not  to  him  alone  but 
to  this  whole  country  that  a  man  who  was  so  marked  in  his  grand 
individuality  and  splendid  characteristics  should  be  spoken  of  here, 
and  that  we  should  contribute  what  we  are  able  to  do  to  enhance  the 
value  of  his  memory  for  the  sake  of  posterity,  as  well  as  for  the 
present  generation  of  men. 

The  pathetic  remarks  that  fell  from  his  lips,  which  were  quoted 
by  the  Senator  from  Illinois  [Mr.  Cullom] ,  at  the  time  that  we  were 
holding  obsequies  over  the  departed  Senator  from  Michigan,  Mr. 
Chandler,  bring  forcibly  before  my  mind,  as  I  have  no  doubt  they 
bring  before  the  mind  of  the  Senate,  the  question,  whither  has  gone 
this  man  so  powerfully  clothed  with  every  element  of  strength,  good¬ 
ness,  and  greatness  of  character?  Has  the  Divine  hand  that  fash¬ 
ioned  a  man  like  this,  and  made  it  possible  for  him  to  build  himself 
up  through  the  toils  and  labors  and  vicissitudes  of  life,  found  no  use 
for  him  in  the  great  economy  of  His  providence,  since  that  sad  and 
startling  moment  when  he  was  taken,  yes,  snatched  from  our  midst? 
I  think,  sir,  of  John  A.  Logan  to-day  as  a  powerful  factor  in  the 
hands  of  his  Creator,  still  working  out  diligently  and  faithfully  the 
good  that  he  seemed  so  well  designed  to  accomplish.  I  do  not  regard 
him  as  lost  or  passed  into  a  mythical  land  where  there  is  no  longer 
use  for  the  valuable  services  which  he  has  been  so  conspicuous  in 
rendering  to  his  race  while  he  lived  among  us.  I  think  of  him  as 
a  living,  moving  energy,  still  useful  in  the  great  purposes  of  the 
Divine  economy. 

I  do  not  come  here,  Mr.  President,  to  pronounce  about  a  man  so 
sincere  as  he  was  any  word  of  eulogy  or  praise  in  which  there  will 
be  a  coloring  of  insincerity.  For  twenty-five  years  I  was  opposed  to 
almost  every  measure  of  public  policy  that  he  espoused.  It  so  turned 
out  that  in  the  first  battle  of  the  war,  and  in  the  latest  battle  in 
which  I  participated,  we  were  confronted  with  each  other.  It  so 
turned  out  that,  having  our  political  principles  cast  much  in  the 


,  Address  of  Mr.  Morgan,  of  Alabama.  27 

same  mold  in  early  life,  we  separated,  as  did  the  sections  of  this  great 
country,  upon  questions  that  it  appears  could  not  be  settled  or  rec¬ 
onciled  otherwise  than  by  war. 

After  we  had  again  come  in  the  presence  of  each  other  in  this 
Senate,  he,  with  an  absolute  sincerity  of  purpose,  which  I  claim  for 
myself  also,  took  the  opposite  view  from  that  which  I  held  of  most 
of  the  great  questions  that  have  engaged  the  attention  of  this  body 
since  that  time.  But  in  all  that  he  did  and  in  all  that  he  said  John 
A.  Logan  was  a  thoroughly  sincere  and  a  resolutely  upright  man. 

The  differences  of  opinion  that  exist  between  men  in  this  country,  * 
where  freedom  of  speech  and  of  debate  are  sanctioned  and  encour¬ 
aged  by  the  Constitution  and  by  the  traditions  of  our  history,  de¬ 
velop  men  who  oppose  each  other  with  great  strength  and  power 
frequently,  and  develop  even  in  ordinary  men  a  strength  of  will  and 
purpose  that  is  honorable  to  them  and  beneficial  to  the  people.  Our 
divisions  of  sentiment  and  opinion  are  altogether  natural  and  indis¬ 
pensable.  They  merely  mean  that  the  questions  with  which  we 
have  to  deal  are  debatable  and  often  doubtful,  and  that  they  must 
finally  be  settled  in  this  body,  as  in  all  other  legislative  bodies  in 
this  country,  by  the  power  of  a  majority,  the  minority  always  yield¬ 
ing  to  the  majority  as  being  right  in  substance  and  in  effect.  So 
that  when  I  controvert  with  a  man  of  the  strength  of  Logan’s  will 
and  a  man  of  his  ability,  his  learning,  his  enterprise,  and  his  genius, 
for  he  possessed  all  in  a  large  degree,  I  feel  that  the  combats  in 
which  we  engage  are  those  in  which  men  on  either  side  may  be  ab¬ 
solutely  sincere. 

John  A.  Logan  was,  more  than  almost  any  man  in  my  remem¬ 
brance,  the  typical  American  of  the  Western  States.  He  was  born 
and  reared  in  the  W est,  that  country  of  marvelous  strength,  power, 
and  progress.  All  of  his  efforts  were  given  to  the  service  first  of 
that  particular  section  and  afterwards  to  the  niore  enlarged  service 
of  the  general  country.  But  Logan  seemed  to  be  the  embodiment 
of  the  spirit  and  power  of  that  wonderful  West,  which  has  grown 
and  strengthened  in  our  country  as  no  other  section  of  this  Union 
has  within  a  given  time.  The  energy  of  his  nature,  the  fortitude, 
the  persistence,  the  industry,  the  courage  with  which  he  encount¬ 
ered  every  question  that  arose  seemed  merely  to  exemplify  the  per¬ 
vading  spirit  of  the  western  part  of  the  United  States,  and  he  so  will 
go  down  to  posterity,  not  because  we  describe  him  in  our  speeches 


28 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan . 


here  to-day,  but  because  he  has  described  himself  in  every  act  of  his 
life  as  a  man  perfectly  understood,  the  recognized  exemplar  of  one 
of  the  strongest  and  most  splendid  types  of  American  character. 

I  confess,  Mr.  President,  that  I  feel  a  certain  joy  in  the  power  of 
our  country  to  develop  men  like  this.  I  think  it  is  greatly  to  the 
credit  of  the  country  that  a  man  can  be  brought  from  the  bosom 
of  the  people  and  lifted  into  the  highest  stations  of  place  and  power 
without  in  the  slightest  degree  losing  his  identity  with  them;  re¬ 
flecting  here  upon  the  floor  of  the  Senate  what  they  feel  in  their 
♦  hearts  and  what  they  believe  and  teach  in  their  homes,  keeping  up 
a  perpetual  bond  of  affectionate  union  between  those  highest  in  au¬ 
thority  in  this  land  and  those  who  are  in  the  retirement  of  private 
life. 

Institutions  that  can  produce  men  and  results  like  these  are 
worthy  of  preservation,  and  no  man  more  regrets  than  I  do  that 
there  was  ever  one  moment  of  time  in  the  history  of  this  country 
when  it  seemed  to  be  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  rights  that 
a  large  portion  of  the  jieople  of  this  country  believed  to  be  sacred 
that  these  institutions  of  ours  should  have  been  put  under  a  threat. 
That  time  has  passed  away,  and  with  it  all  the  rancors  of  the  occa¬ 
sion.  You  can  not  point  out  in  the  history  of  any  race  of  people 
that  degree  of  mutual  magnanimity  and  forbearance  that  has  char¬ 
acterized  the  people  of  this  great  country  in  returning  to  unite 
hands  and  hearts  in  the  maintenance  of  its  institutions,  in  the  ele¬ 
vation  of  its  honor,  and  in  the  perfection  of  its  glory. 

In  these  efforts  men  who  thought  and  felt  as  I  have  thought  and 
felt  always  gladly  stretch  forth  the  hand  of  honest  brotherhood  to 
men  like  John  A.  Logan.  We  were  never  afraid  of  such  men,  be¬ 
cause  they  were  candid  and  true.  No  guile  beset  that  man’s  life, 
no  evasion,  no  finesse.  No  mere  strategy  ever  characterized  his 
conduct  in  public  life,  or  marred  his  honor  in  private  life.  He  was 
a  bold,  pronounced,  dignified,  earnest,  manly,  firm,  generous,  true 
man,  and  I  value  the  opportunity  to  express  these  sentiments  about 
such  a  man  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate  on  this  solemn  occasion. 

Passing  beyond  the  events  to  which  I  have  alluded,  where  he  and 
I  had  adverse  opinions,  and  taking  this  young  man  in  company  with 
thousands  of  his  confreres  of  like  age  who  were  in  the  army  that 
invaded  Mexico,  we  find  there  the  earliest  display  of  those  qualities 
which  continued  in  unabated  vigor  and  distinctiveness  down  to  the 


29 


Address  of  Mr.  Morgan,  of  Alabama. 

very  hour  of  his  death.  I  have  always  felt  that  we  had  sent  out 
with  the  army  to  Mexico  the  very  flower  of  American  chivalry  in 
the  persons  of  those  young  men  who  bore  our  banners  in  triumph  to 
the  halls  of  the  Montezumas.  Scarce  a  man  who  distinguished  him¬ 
self  in  that  war  has  not  received  great  honors  at  the  hands  of  his 
country  and  has  not  proved  himself  thoroughly  worthy  of  them. 
We  can  scarcely  recall  an  individual  who  had  a  prominent  place  in 
that  war — I  do  not  mean  official  place,  but  who  won  his  position  by 
dutiful  service  in  that  war— who  has  not  received  at  the  hands  of 
the  American  people  a  complete  recognition  of  those  abilities  and- 
that  courageous  manhood  which  enabled  him  to  go  out  in  this  early 
trial  of  his  life  and  to  prove  himself  upon  those  fields  as  a  man  of 
valor  and  of  power. 

I  believe  that  no  man  has  died  in  this  country  in  a  half  century  for 
whom  the  people  of  the  United  States  at  large  had  a  more  genuine  re¬ 
spect  or  in  whom  they  had  greater  confidence  than  in  General  Logan. 
The  Senate  has  witnessed  on  various  occasions  his  antagonism  even 
to  his  best  friends  when  his  convictions  led  him  to  separate  from 
them  upon  political  and  other  questions  that  have  been  brought  before 
the  Senate.  Always  courageous,  always  firm,  always  true,  you  knew 
exactly  where  to  place  him;  and  when  his  manly  form  strode  across 
the  Senate  Chamber  and  he  took  his  seat  among  his  brethren  of  this 
body  this  country  as  well  as  this  august  tribunal  felt  that  a  man  had 
appeared  of  valor  and  strength  and  real  ability. 

Though  perhaps  he  could  not  handle  the  refinements  of  disquisition 
and  logic  with  as  much  skill  as  some,  Logan  did  not  want  to  use 
such  methods  in  his  argument.  He  desired  to  have  strong  materials 
out  of  which  to  build  powerful  argumentation.  If  the  facts  that  ap¬ 
peared  before  his  mind  convinced  his  judgment  and  his  conscience 
that  his  course  was  right,  he  seldom  stopped  to  see  whether  the  path 
that  he  had  marked  out  for  himself  was  one  justified  by  the  doctrines 
of  any  political  party  or  had  been  explored  by  some  great  man.  While 
I  feel  that  there  is  great  attention  always  deserving  to  matters  of  the 
kind  I  have  been  mentioning,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  those  strong 
and  earnest  men  who  take  hold  of  facts  as  they  arise,  and  in  handling 
them  follow  the  dictates  of  judgment  and  of  conscience,  oftener  meet 
the  approval  of  the  American  people  than  those  who  refine  too  much 
and,  from  timidity,  fail  to  reach  the  results  that  the  people  themselves 
have  fastened  their  hearts  upon. 


30 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

I  am  glad,  Mr.  President,  of  the  opportunity  afforded  by  knowl¬ 
edge  of  his  character  to  render  to  our  late  associate  what  I  conceive 
to  be  a  merited  tribute,  and  to  extend  my  remarks  further  and  to  say 
of  him  that  in  his  domestic  relations  he  was  one  of  the  fondest  and 
most  lovable  of  men.  In  that  crucial  test  of  an  honest  character  and 
of  a  gentle  and  forbearing  nature,  no  man  excelled  John  A.  Logan. 
He  was  a  true  husband,  a  true  father,  a  true  friend,  and  when  that 
is  said  of  a  man,  and  you  can  add  to  it  also  that  he  was  a  true  patriot, 
a  true  soldier,  and  a  true  statesman,  I  do  not  know  what  else  could 
be  grouped  into  the  human  character  to  make  it  more  sublime. 


Address  of  Mr.  Edmunds,  of  Vermont. 

Mr.  President  :  I  first  knew  General  Logan  about  twenty  years 
ago.  He  was  then  a  member  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and 
I  had  just  come  to  the  Senate.  His  fame  as  a  soldier,  of  course,  was 
well  known  to  me.  His  personal  characteristics  I  then  knew  nothing 
of.  I  soon  met  him  in  committees  of  conference  and  otherwise  as 
representing  the  opinions  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  matters 
of  difference  with  the  Senate,  and  I  was  struck,  as  everybody  has 
been  who  has  known  him,  with  the  very  extraordinary  characteris¬ 
tics  that  he  possessed.  They  have  been  stated  by  his  colleague  who  first 
addressed  you  and  by  my  friend  on  the  other  side  of  the  Chamber — 
the  characteristic  of  candor,  the  characteristic  of  simplicity  of  state¬ 
ment,  the  characteristic  of  clearness  of  opinion,  the  characteristic  of 
that  Anglo-Saxon  persistence  in  upholding  an  opinion  once  formed 
that  has  made  our  British  ancestors  and  our  own  people  the  strongest 
forces  for  civilization  of  which  we  have  any  account  in  the  history 
of  the  world. 

There  was  no  pretense  about  the  man  ;  there  was  no  ambuscade ; 
there  was  no  obscurity.  What  he  was  for  he  understood  his  reason 
for  being  for,  stated  it  briefly  and  clearly,  and  stuck  to  it ;  and  that, 
as  we  all  know,  and  as  it  always  ought  to  be,  means  in  the  great 
majority  of  instances  success,  and  where  success  fails  it  is.  an  instance 
of  honorable  defeat. 

His  industry,  Mr.  President,  which  I  have  so  long  had  opportunity 
to  know  and  to  know  intimately,  for  later  when  he  came  to  the  Sen¬ 
ate  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  serve  with  him  in  one  of  the  commit- 


31 


Address  of  Mr.  Edmunds,  of  Vermont. 

tees  of  the  Senate  having  a  very  large  amount  of  work  to  do _ his 

industry,  as  well  as  these  other  characteristics  that  I  have  spoken  of, 
was  of  the  greatest.  He  seemed  never  to  tire,  to  be  ready  to  stay 
out  and  finish  the  things  that  were  to  he  done,  an  example  to  us  all  of 
that  fidelity  to  the  administration  of  public  interests,  the  things  to 
he  done  and  accomplished  that  I  think  were  extremely  conspicuous, 
and  I  must  say  among  the  living  are  somewhat  rare. 

So  speaking  of  him,  Mr.  President,  as  a  Member  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  as  a  Senator  performing  his  public  duty,  I  can 
speak  of  him  with  the  simplest  sincerity  and  say  that  he  was  entitled, 
in  my  opinion,  to  the  highest  praise  for  these  qualities  and  these 
things  that  he  both  had  and  did  in  performing  important  public 
duties. 

No  more  can  be  said,  Mr.  President,  of  any  man,  whether  he  have 
the  gifts  of  eloquence  or  the  boundless  resources  of  learning.  He 
who  does  his  meed  of  duty  in  the  place  where  he  stands  is  the  best 
patriot,  the  best  citizen,  the  best  legislator,  the  best  ruler,  and  the 
best  man.  That  he  did. 

For  many  years  General  Logan  and  I  have  sat  here  side  by  side. 
His  temper,  like  that  of  some  of  those  who  sat  very  near  to  him, 
was  not  always  of  the  most  stolid  kind,  and  he  and  I,  sitting  here 
side  by  side,  very  often  in  our  constant  conversations  and  intercourse 
differed  and  disagreed ;  we  sometimes  got  warm  and  angry ;  but  I 
think  I  can  say  truly  that  the  sun  never  went  down  on  his  wrath 
toward  me  or  any  other  man  from  occasions  arising  from  differences 
of  opinion  and  warmth  of  words. 

He  was  the  gentlest  of  hearts,  the  truest  of  natures,  the  highest 
of  spirits,  that  feels  and  considers  the  weaknesses  of  human  nature 
and  who  does  not  let  small  things  stand  in  the  way  of  his  generous 
friendship  and  affection  for  those  with  whom  he  is  thrown.  And  so 
in  the  midst  of  a  career  that  had  been  so  honorable  in  every  branch 
of  the  public  service,  and  with  just  ambitions  and  just  powers  to  a 
yet  longer  life  of  great  public  usefulness,  he  disappears  from  among 
us — not  dead — promoted,  as  I  think,  leaving  us  to  mourn,  not  his 
departure  for  his  sake,  but  that  the  value  of  his  conspicuous  example, 
the  strength  of  his  conspicuous  experience  in  public  affairs,  and  the 
wisdom  of  his  counsels  have  been  withdrawn. 

And  so  I  mourn  him  for  ourselves,  not  for  himself ;  and  so  I  look 
upon  an  occasion  like  this  not  so  much — far  from  it — for  the  regrets 


32 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


that  belong  to  personal  separations  as  the  testimonial  that  a  great 
body  like  this  should  make  for  ourselves  and  for  our  people  of  a 
recognition  of  the  merits  and  of  the  examples  and  of  the  services 
that  are  to  be  not  only  a  memorial  but  an  inspiration  to  us  all  and 
to  all  our  countrymen  as  to  the  just  recognition  of  the  worth  of 
noble  deeds  and  honest  desires.  And  so  I  lay  my  small  tribute  upon 
his  grave  in  this  way. 


Address  of  Mr.  Manderson,  of  Nebraska. 

Mr.  President  :  As  I  stood  a  few  weeks  ago  by  the  vault  that  re¬ 
ceived  within  its  gloomy  walls  the  honored  remains  of  John  Alex¬ 
ander  Logan,  and  heard  the  impressive  words  of  the  solemn  ritual 
for  the  dead  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  it  seemed  to  me 
a  most  fitting  ceremonial.  The  aged  comrade  of  the  order  who  in 
tremulous  tones  read  the  lines  that  breathe  in  every  word  the  spirit 
of  fraternity,  charity,  and  loyalty,  represented  the  three  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  companions  in  arms,  comrades  of  the  illustrious 
dead,  to  whom  he  was  endeared  by  much  of  self-sacrifice  and  a  de¬ 
votion  to  their  interests  that  never  knew  fatigue.  As  the  clear, 
well-sustained  notes  of  the  bugle  hung,  as  though  loath  to  leave, 
upon  the  wintry  air, 

And  the  dingle’s  hollow  throat 
Prolonged  the  swelling  bugle  note, 

sounding  the  call  “lights  out,”  it  was  fit  finale  to  the  life  of  activity 
and  conflict  so  lately  ended.  It  spoke  of  rest  after  fatigue,  of  the 
peaceful  camp  after  the  wearisome  march,  of  quiet  after  the  din  of 
arms,  of  sweet  sleep  after  battle.  It  meant  the  restful  darkness 
after  the  wakeful  light,  the  covering  of  the  camp-fire  to  retain  its 
warmth  until  the  dawn,  the  promise  of  the  coming  day,  the  resur¬ 
rection,  and  the  life  eternal. 

The  familiar  bugle-call  brought  most  vividly  to  my  recollection 
the  first  time  I  met  our  friend  and  brother,  nearly  twenty-five  years 
ago.  The  disaster  to  our  arms  on  dread  Chickamauga’s  bloody 
day — the  only  battle  approaching  defeat  that  the  Army  of  the  Cum¬ 
berland  had  ever  known — had  been  redeemed  by  the  glorious  and 
substantial  victories  of  Mission  .Ridge  and  Lookout  Mountain. 
These  battles  had  been  won  with  \the  aid  of  the  Army  of  the  Ten¬ 
nessee,  and  Sherman,  its  leader,  had  come  to  fight  by  the  side  of 
Thomas,  “the  Rock  of  Chickamauga.” 


33 


Address  of  Mr.  Manderson,  of  Nebraska. 

With  Grant,  the  great  captain,  to  direct  the  movements  of  these 
most  able  lieutenants,  the  victory  was  assured,  and  with  the  capture 
of  the  rebel  stronghold  upon  the  frowning  heights  of  Mission  Ridge 
and  lofty  Lookout  the  Georgia  campaign,  that  ended  in  the  capture 
of  Atlanta  and  the  march  to  the  sea,  that  “  broke  the  back  of  the 
rebellion,”  became  possibilities.  The  fair  fame  of  our  brethren  of 
the  Tennessee  was  familiar  to  us  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland. 
We  had  fought  by  their  side  at  Shiloh.  We  knew  of  their  high 
emprise  at  Corinth,  Champion  Hills,  and  Vicksburg.  We  had 
heard  and  read  of  Sherman,  McPherson,  and  Logan. 

\ 

I  do  not  disparage  the  bright  fame  of  either  of  the  first  two  when 
I  say  that  the  chief  interest  centered  at  that  time  about  the  name  of 
the  third  of  these  famous  leaders  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee. 
He  was  the  great  volunteer  soldier  .  He  came  from  civil  life — was 
without  education  in  the  art  of  war  save  that  which  came  from  a 
limited  experience  during  the  war  with  Mexico.  He  resigned  his 
position  as  a  member  of  Congress  to  enter  the  Army  of  the  Union 
as  a  private.  With  burning  words  of  eloquence  and  lofty  patriot¬ 
ism  he  gathered  his  neighbors  of  his  Congressional  district  about 
his  recruiting  flag,  organized  and  became  the  colonel  of  the  Thirty- 
first  Regiment  of  Illinois  Volunteers.  The  baptism  of  blood  came 
to  him  at  Belmont,  where  he  led  the  charging  column  upon  the  foe. 

At  Fort  Henry  his  regiment  captured  eight  of  the  enemy’s  guns. 
At  Fort  Donelson,  while  impetuously  urging  his  men  to  the  assault, 
he  was  badly  wounded  in  the  arm  and  hip  but  never  flinched,  and 
by  his  intrepidity  kept  his  men  in  place  until  they  were  re-enforced, 
their  commander  leaving  the  field  only  when  faint  from  loss  of  blood. 
His  regiment  in  this  bloody  fray  lost  fifty  per  cent,  of  its  number  in 
killed  and  wounded.  Promoted  to  be  brigadier-general,  he  returned 
before  full  recovery  of  health  and  strength,  and  at  Corinth  General 
Sherman  acknowledged  his  special  obligation  to  General  Logan, 
and  described  how  gallantly  “he  held  the  critical  ground  on  the 
right  against  a  large  force  of  the  enemy.” 

Advanced  to  the  command  of  a  division  he  saved  the  day  at  Ray¬ 
mond,  and  the  historian  wrote  of  him: 

He  was  full  of  zeal  and  wild  with  enthusiasm,  and  to  his  division  belongs  the 
honor  of  the  victory.  Fearless  as  a  lion,  he  was  in  every  part  of  the  field  and 
seemed  to  infuse  every  man  of  his  command  with  a  part  of  his  own  indomitable 
energy  and  fiery  valor. 

3  L 


34 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

At  Jackson  and  at  Champion  Hills  his  splendid  division,  as  usual, 
immortalized  itself.  He  seemed  a  born  leader,  displaying  “un¬ 
flinching  endurance,  daring  bravery,  and  determined  energy.”  At 
the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  and  particularly  in  the  assault  after  the 
mine  explosion,  he  was  the  prominent  figure.  His  division  was  the 
first  to  enter  the  captured  stronghold  on  that  memorable  fourth  day 
of  July.  A  witness  of  the  scene  wrote: 

The  General  rode  at  their  head  worshiped  by  his  men— a  man  of  iron  will  and 
lion-like  courage,  who  seemed  under  the  blasts  of  war  to  change  into  a  demi-god. 

As  a  tribute  to  his  gallantry  and  effective  service  during  the  siege, 
he  was  made  military  governor,  and  in  that  capacity  displayed  won¬ 
derful  executive  power  in  caring  for  the  captured  thousands  of  Pem¬ 
berton’s  army  and  the  many  other  thousands  of  citizens  who  were 
reduced  almost  to  starvation.  He  brought  “order  out  of  chaos,  re¬ 
strained  disorder,  and  treated  the  conquered  with  impartial  justice.” 

Having  been  made  major-general  of  volunteers,  he  succeeded 
General  Sherman  as  commander  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps. 

His  parting  address  to  the  gallant  division  he  had  so  frequently 
led  to  victory  is  well  worthy  of  remembrance.  He  said  it  “had 
made  for  itself  a  history  to  be  proud  of;  a  history  never  to  be  for¬ 
gotten;  for  it  is  written  as  with  a  pen  of  fire  dipped  in  ink  of  blood 
in  the  memories  and  in  the  hearts  of  all.”  He  besought  his  men  in 
these  words:  “Remember  the  glorious  cause  you  are  fighting  for, 
remember  the  bleaching  bones  of  your  comrades  killed  on  the  bloody 
fields  of  Donelson,  Corinth,  Champion  Hills,  and  Vicksburg,  or  who 
perished  by  disease  during  the  past  two  years  of  hardship  and  ex¬ 
posure,  and  swear  by  these  imperishable  memories  never,  while  life 
remains,  to  prove  recreant  to  the  trust  Heaven  has  confided  to  your 
charge.” 

This  was  the  meteoric  military  career  of  the  junior  of  the  three 
splendid  soldiers  who  came  from  the  great  valley  they  had  immor¬ 
talized  by  their  valor  to  the  central  West,  to  join  with  Thomas, 
Schofield,  and  Hooker  in  the  campaign  against  Atlanta — “the  gate 
city  of  the  South.” 

I  first  saw  Logan  in  front  of  the  Confederate  position  on  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  when  his  corps  made  that  desperate  assault  upon  Little 
Kenesaw — so  fruitless  in  results,  so  costly  in  human  life.  The  sight 
was  an  inspiration.  Well  mounted — “he  looked  of  his  horse  a 
part.”  His  swarthy  complexion,  long  black  hair,  compact  figure, 


Address  of  Mr.  Manderson,  of  Nebraska. 


35 


stentorian  voice,  and  eyes  that  seemed  to  blaze  “with  the  light  of 
battle,'5  made  a  figure  once  seen  never  to  he  forgotten.  In  action 
he  was  the  very  spirit  of  war.  His  magnificent  presence  would 
make  a  coward  fight.  He  seemed  a  resistless  force. 

The  sword 

Of  Michael,  from  the  armory  of  God, 

Was  given  him,  tempered  so  that  neither  keen 
Nor  solid  might  resist  that  edge. 

The  splendid  record  of  achievements  won  along  the  Mississippi 
was  to  remain  unbroken.  His  name  is  written  upon  every  page  of 
the  Georgia  campaign  of  over  one  hundred  days  of  constant  fighting. 
Says  one  of  the  historians  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland:  “As 
the  united  armies  advanced  along  the  battle  line,  where  for  four 
•  months  the  firing  never  wholly  ceased  by  day  or  by  night,  everybody 
came  to  know  Logan.  Brave,  vigilant,  and  aggressive,  he  won  uni¬ 
versal  applause.  Prudent  for  his  men  and  reckless  in  exposing  his 
own  person,  he  excited  general  admiration.” 

When  the  lines  were  close  his  own  headquarters  were  often  scarcely 
out  of  sight  of  the  pickets,  and  he  generally  had  a  hand  in  whatever 
deadly  work  might  spring  up  along  his  front. 

At  Resaca,  at  Dallas,  in  front  of  frowning  Kenesaw,  at  Peach  Tree 
Creek,  and  New  Hope  Church  his  corps  under  his  leadership  added 
to  its  fame.  When  McPherson  was  killed  Logan  assumed  temporary 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  “wrested  victory  from 
the  jaws  of  defeat.”  We  of  the  Cumberland  heard  the  noise  of  the 
cannon  and  the  rattle  of  the  musketry  that  told  of  the  severe  as¬ 
saults  made  by  the  desperate  foe  on  Logan’s  line.  I  visited  the  field 
the  next  morning  and  saw  the  terrible  results  of  the  deadly  struggle. 

The  ground  was  thickly  strewn  with  the  slain,  and  the  face  of 
nature  had  been  changed  by  the  conflict  as  though 

Men  had  fought  upon  the  earth  and  fiends  in  upper  air. 

Logan’s  battle  presence  here  is  said  to  have  been  sublime.  The 
death  of  his  beloved  comrade  in  arms  seemed  to  transform  him  into 
a  very  Moloch.  Bare-headed  he  rode  his  lines,  encouraging  his  men 
by  word  and  deed,  his  battle-cry,  “  McPherson  and  revenge.”  Sher¬ 
man’s  official  report  of  the  battle  says  : 

The  brave  and  gallant  General  Logan  pobly  sustained  his  reputation  and  that  of 
his  veteran  army  and  avenged  the  death  of  his  comrade  and  commander. 


36  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

I  would  fain  speak  of  Ezra  Chapel  and  Jonesborough,  but  lack  of 
time  forbids. 

On  September  2nd  the  campaign  of  constant  fighting  that  began 
May  2nd  closed  by  the  occupation  of  Atlanta,  and  no  one  man  did 
more  to  bring  about  the  glorious  result  than  he  whose  death  we  to¬ 
day  deplore.  Of  his  services  during  the  march  from  Savannah 
through  the  Carolinas  I  cannot  take  time  to  speak.  He  rode  at  the 
head  of  the  victorious  veterans  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  at  the 
Grand  Review.  Long  its  leader,  he  had  at  last  become  its  commander. 
No  more  knightly  figure  appeared  in  the  marching  columns.  No 
braver  or  truer  heart  swelled  with  the  lofty  emotions  of  the  hour. 

Through  all  of  General  Logan’s  military  career  it  is  evident  that 
he  was  far  more  than  a  mere  soldier.  Although  terribly  at  home 
upon  the  field  of  battle  it  was  not  love  of  the  life  that  took  him  there. 
His  sensitive  and  sympathetic  nature  caused  him  many  unhappy 
hours  as  he  saw  the  horrors  war  had  wrought.  He  was  no  mere 
seeker  for  ‘‘the  bubble  reputation.”  The  speeches  made  and  letters 
written  immediately  before  and  during  the  great  struggle  for  national 
existence  show  him  to  have  been  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  loftiest 
patriotism.  In  Congress  he  said  : 

I  have  been  taught  to  believe  that  the  preservation  of  this  glorious  Union,  with 
its  broad  flag  waving  over  us  as  the  shield  for  our  protection  on  land  and  on  sea,  is 
paramount  to  all  the  parties  and  platforms  that  ever  have  existed,  or  ever  can  exist. 
I  would  to-day,  if  I  had  the  power,  sink  my  own  party  and  every  other  one  with 
all  their  platforms  into  the  vortex  of  ruin,  without  heaving  a  sigh  or  shedding  a 
tear,  to  save  the  Union. 

In  1862,  when  solicited  to  represent  Illinois  as  Representative  at 
large,  he  wrote : 

A  compliance  with  your  request  on  my  part  would  be  a  departure  from  the  set¬ 
tled  resolutions  with  which  I  resumed  my  sword  in  defense  and  for  the  perpetuity 
of  a  government,  the  like  and  blessings  of  which  no  other  nation  or  age  shall  enjoy 
if  once  suffered  to  be  weakened  or  destroyed.  In  making  this  reply  I  feel  that  it 
is  unnecessary  to  enlarge  as  to  what  were,  are,  or  may  hereafter  be  my  political 
views,  but  would  simply  state  that  politics  of  every  grade  and  character  whatso¬ 
ever  are  now  ignored  by  me,  since  I  am  convinced  that  the  Constitution  and  life  of 
this  Republic,  which  I  shall  never  cease  to  adore,  are  in  danger. 

I  express  all  my  views  in  politics  when  I  assert  my  attachment  for  the  Union.  I 
have  no  other  politics  now,  and  consequently  no  aspirations  for  civil  place  or  power. 
No !  I  am  to-day  a  soldier  of  this  Republic,  so  to  remain,  changeless  and  immuta¬ 
ble,  until  her  last  and  weakest  enemy  shall  have  expired  and  passed  away.  Ambi. 
tious  men  who  have  not  a  true  love  for  their  country  at  heart  may  bring  forth 
crude  and  bootless  questions  to  agitate  the  pulse  of  our  troubled  nation  and  thwart 
the  preservation  of  this  Union,  but  of  none  of  such  am  I.  I  have  entered  the  field 
to  die  if  needs  be  for  this  Government,  and  never  expect  to  return  to  peaceful  pur¬ 
suits  until  the  object  of  this  war  has  become  a  fact  established. 


Address  of  Mr.  Manderson,  of  Nebraska.  37 

While  deeply  in  earnest  and  desirous  of  serving  his  country  in  the 
largest  sphere,  it  cannot  be  said  that  he  was  ambitions.  He  never 
sought  promotion.  It  came  to  him  as  proper  recognition  of  great 
fitness  and  much  service. 

The  trait  in  his  character  upon  which  my  thoughts  dwell  with 
fondness  and  emotion  was  his  generous  regard  for  the  rights  of  others. 
It  shone  out  conspicuously  in  his  treatment  of  that  noble  soldier  and 
true  patriot,  General  George  H.  Thomas,  whom  all  men  loved.  There 
was  impatience  that  Thomas  did  not  move  to  the  attack  of  Hood. 
The  fact  that  the  rain,  which  froze  as  it  fell,  covered  the  earth  with 
ice,  upon  which  man  or  beast  could  scarcely  stand  was  really  cause 
sufficient  for  delay. 

Logan  was  ordered  to  supersede  the  great  leader  of  the  Cumber¬ 
land  army.  He  proceeded  west  ward,  without  haste,  although  the 
command  of  that  splendid  army  of  veterans  was  something  greatly 
to  be  desired.  Reaching  Louisville  and  hearing  that  the  thaw  had 
come  and  Thomas  ready  to  move,  he  delayed  in  that  city.  The  glo¬ 
rious  news  of  the  great  victory  at  Nashville  soon  came  to  him. 
Logan,  with  the  order  assigning  him  to  supreme  command  in  his 
pocket,  telegraphed  the  glad  tidings  to  Washington  and  asked  that 
Thomas  might  remain  at  the  head  of  the  men  who  had  followed  him 
for  so  many  years,  and  that  he  might  return  to  the  inferior  com¬ 
mand. 

N o  desire  for  self-advancement  could  prompt  him  to  disregard  the 
rights  of  a  comrade.  Without  a  murmur  he  had  before  this  time 
seen  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  pass  to  another 
when  it  seemed  matter  of  right  that  it  should  be  his  as  the  natural 
successor  of  the  lamented  McPherson.  General  Hooker,  with  less  of 
claim,  wanted  it,  and  in  his  grievous  disappointment  asked  to  be 
relieved  from  duty.  Logan  did  not  sulk  an  instant,  but,  with 
unselfish  patriotism,  went  wherever  duty  called. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  speak  of  the  great  dead  in  any  other  capac¬ 
ity  than  that  of  a  soldier.  Let  others  speak  of  him  as  a  citizen, 
lawyer,  legislator,  statesman,  and  tell  of  his  merits  as  a  civilian,  hus¬ 
band,  father,  and  friend.  I  was  his  recognized  comrade,  as  was 
every  other  man  who  wore  the  blue.  He  never  forgot  them.  They 
will  never  forget  him.  He  made  it  impossible  so  to  do  by  his  devo¬ 
tion  to  the  volunteer  soldiers’  interests.  The  statute  books  are  full 
of  laws  for  the  maimed  and  disabled,  the  widowed  and  the  father- 


38 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan , 


less,  that  he  either  originated  or  actively  helped  to  pass.  His  life 
here  and  in  the  other  house  since  the  war  was  one  of  constant  devo¬ 
tion  to  those  with  whom  he  had  served.  It  was  this  strong  feeling 
of  comradeship  that  prompted  him  to  aid  materially 'in  the  organi¬ 
zation  of  that  great  order — the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic. 

He  originated  the  ever-beautiful  Memorial  Day,  and  constantly 
urged  its  observance.  It  was  a  revelation  to  many  that  this  sturdy 
soldier  should  have  conceived  the  poetic  idea  that  the  graves  of  the 
Union  dead  should  receive  their  yearly  tribute  of  flowers.  The 
thought  was  born  of  his  love  for  them.  There  was  much  that  was 
refined  beneath  the  bold,  frank  exterior. 

The  bravest  are  the  tenderest, 

The  loving  are  the  daring. 

A  friend  who  knew  him  well  writes  of  him  : 

His  domestic  life  was  an  exquisite  idyh  It  was  fragrant  with  faith  and  tender¬ 
ness.  It  was  a  poem  whose  rhythm  was  never  marred. 

Our  hearts  go  out  in  sympathetic  love  to-day  to  the  lonely  woman 
who  was  his  helpmeet  all  the  days  of  his  manhood  life.  Hers  the 
desolation  of  a  great  loss,  but  with  it  the  consolation  of  a  great  love. 

Peace  be  with  her. 


Address  of  Mr.  Hampton,  of  South  Carolina. 

Mr.  President:  I  understand  and  appreciate  fully  the  motives 
which  prompt  the  tender  and  touching  tributes  paid  here  to  the 
memory  of  our  late  and  distinguished  colleague.  I  sympathize  with 
them  as  honorable  alike  to  the  living  and  to  the  dead.  It  is  emi¬ 
nently  right  and  proper  that  the  political  associates  and  the  comrades 
in  arms  of  the  dead  statesman  and  soldier  should  bear  grateful  testi¬ 
mony  to  his  services  and  pay  homage  to  his  virtues.  This  is  his  due; 
it  belongs  of  right  to  him,  and  none  are  more  willing  to  accord  this 
to  him  than  those  who  were  his  political  opponents.  For  one,  I  join 
gladly  in  every  mark  of  respect  paid  to  the  memory  of  General 
Logan.  But,  sir,  in  the  few  remarks  which  I  shall  make  on  this 
mournful  occasion  which  recalls  a  calamity  that  has  filled,  not  only 
the  Senate,  but  the  whole  country  with  profound  sorrow,  I  must  speak 
from  a  standpoint  different  from  that  occupied  by  the  political  friends 


39 


Address  of  Mr.  Hampton,  of  South  Carolina. 

and  the  comrades  of  him  who  has  been  stricken  down  in  the  prime 
of  manhood,  and  in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness  so  suddenly  and  so 
mysteriously.  The  political  school  in  which  my  creed  was  formed 
inculcated  other  doctrines  than  those  held  by  General  Logan,  and 
these  necessarily  not  only  arrayed  me  in  the  ranks  of  his  political 
opponents,  hut  in  those  which  were  opposed  to  the  cause  he  espoused 
and  so  bravely  upheld  in  the  late  unhappy  civil  war.  As  a  Demo¬ 
crat,  a  Southern  man,  and  a  Confederate  soldier,  I  am  called  on  to 
speak  of  him  as  a  Republican  in  high  and  deserved  honor  with  his 
party,  as  a  Northern  man  who  offered  his  life  and  gave  his  blood  to 
prove  the  sincerity  of  his  convictions,  and  as  a  Federal  soldier  whose 
fame  was  as  widespread  as  it  was  fairly  achieved. 

I  therefore  leave  to  others  better  fitted  than  myself  the  grateful 
duty  of  portraying  his  remarkable  military  career  which  placed  him 
high  in  the  ranks  of  successful  commanders,  and  of  tracing  his  no 
less  remarkable  political  career,  which  led  him  up  to  become  an  hon¬ 
ored  and  recognized  leader  of  his  party.  But  I  may  say,  in  con¬ 
nection  with  his  brilliant  military  service,  and  it  is  due  to  him  that 
I  should  say  it,  that  when  war  was  flagrant,  and  the  passions  of  men 
were  inflamed  to  their  highest  pitch,  we  of  the  South  knew  of  no 
act  of  cruelty,  of  barbarity,  or  of  inhumanity  to  stain  his  record  as 
a  brave  and  honorable  soldier. 

I  shall  speak  of  him  as  I  knew  him  here,  as  a  Senator  and  as  a  man, 
and  while  we  held  opposite  opinions  on  nearly  all  of  the  great  ques¬ 
tions  which  have  divided  parties  in  this  country,  I  hope  that  I  may 
be  able  to  speak  with  impartiality  and  with  truth.  His  ability  com¬ 
manded  my  admiration;  his  many  high  qualities  won  my  personal 
regard,  and  every  feeling  of  my  heart  prompts  me  to  do  full  justice  to 
his  merits.  My  acquaintance  with  General  Logan  began  upon  my 
entrance  into  this  body,  and  by  a  curious  coincidence  the  first  utter¬ 
ances  I  heard  in  this  Chamber  were  from  him  while  he  was  criticising 
my  own  State  sharply.  His  language  on  that  occasion,  as  may  read¬ 
ily  be  supposed,  was  not  calculated  to  inspire  me  with  friendly  feel¬ 
ings  toward  him,  and  it  created  in  my  mind  a  prejudice  against  him 
which  doubtless  warped  my  judgment  to  some  extent.  It  was  in  this 
condition  of  things  that  I  found  myself  placed  on  the  Committee  on 
Military  Affairs,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  over  which  he  sub¬ 
sequently  presided  as  chairman  for  years,  zealously  and  efficiently. 

Our  service  together  on  that  committee  was  continuous  from  that 


40  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

time  until  death,  freed  him  from  earthly  labors,  and  my  long  asso¬ 
ciation  with  him  there  taught  me  to  respect  his  great  ability  and  to 
admire  the  many  good  and  generous  traits  which  marked  his  char¬ 
acter  so  strongly.  Thoroughly  familiar  with  the  Army  rules  and 
regulations,  earnestly  desirous  of  promoting  the  efficiency  of  the  ser¬ 
vice,  laborious  and  conscientious  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties,  devoted 
to  the  old  soldiers,  he  was  fully  equipped  to  fill  the  arduous  and  re¬ 
sponsible  position  he  held.  Of  ardent  temperament  and  strong  will, 
he  was  not  free  from  the  prejudices  which  always  belong  to  natures 
such  as  his  was,  but  these  were  rigidly  subordinated  to  his  stern  sense 
of  justice  and  of  honor.  And,  sir,  I  can  say  truthfully  that  he  fre¬ 
quently  tempered  justice  by  mercy,  and  I  acknowledge  gratefully 
that  on  many  occasions  the  people  of  the  South  were  the  recipients 
of  his  kindness.  His  words  in  the  heat  and  conflict  of  debate  were 
sometimes  bitter,  but  his  acts,  inspired  by  his  generous  heart,  were 
generally  kinder  than  his  words.  But  by  his  acts  I  prefer  to  judge 
his  character,  and  by  them  my  estimate  of  him  has  been  formed. 

The  characteristics  which  gave  him  such  marked  individuality  as 
chairman  of  the  Military  Committee  were  constantly  illustrated  on 
the  floor  of  the  Senate.  A  strong  adherent  and  supporter  of  his  party, 
he  never  failed  to  assert  his  independence  of  thought  and  of  action 
whenever  he  deemed  that  his  duty  demanded  this.  Frank,  fearless, 
and  outspoken,  he  possessed  in  an  eminent  degree  the  courage  which 
springs  from  sincere  convictions,  and  he  had  the  ability  to  defend 
these  convictions.  While  doing  this  he  dealt  heavy  blows,  but  they 
were  always  delivered  in  an  open,  straightforward,  manly  manner. 
He  never  fought  in  ambush;  he  asked  only  an  open  field  and  fair  play. 
Possessing  as  he  did  so  many  rare  and  generous  attributes,  it  is  not 
strange  that  he  found  warm  friends  even  among  his  political  oppo¬ 
nents,  nor  is  it  surprising  that  he  was  a  tower  of  strength  to  his  own 
party. 

His  services,  his  talents,  commanded  the  position  of  a  leader,  and 
he  filled  that  position  ably.  The  ancient  Romans,  Mr.  President, 
regarded  courage  as  among  the  highest  virtues,  and  the  word  used 
by  them  to  express  this  quality  has  given  to  our  language  its  beau¬ 
tiful  word  “virtue.”  If  the  Latin  and  the  English  words  are  syn¬ 
onymous,  as  they  should  be,  then  surely  we  can  ascribe  courage  and 
virtue  to  John  A.  Logan. 

No  braver  man  ever  lived,  and  the  Almighty  Creator  endowed  him 


Address  of  Mr.  Allison,  of  Iowa.  41 

with  many  other  and  great  virtues.  His  work  on  earth  is  done,  and 
he  is  at  rest. 

And  from  heaven  of  heavens  above 
God  speak eth  with  bateless  breath: 

“  My  angel  of  perfect  love 
Is  the  angel  men  call  Death!” 


Address  of  Mr.  Allison,  of  Iowa. 

j  '  i/ 

Mr.  President  :  Whosoever  shall  hereafter  faithfully  write  the 
annals  of  our  country's  history  for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  will 
have  occasion  to  speak  often  and  in  words  of  high  praise  the  name 
of  General  John  A.  Logan. 

His  death  came  suddenly  and  unexpectedly  to  us  all,  as  hut  a  few 
days  before  he  was  in  his  seat,  apparently  in  his  usual  health.  When 
it  came  it  disclosed  not  only  the  warm  affection,  friendly  devotion, 
and  high  esteem  of  his  associates  in  this  Chamber,  hut  also  the  firm 
and  enduring  hold  he  had  upon  the  affections  of  his  countrymen 
everywhere.  In  public  halls  and  churches  and  in  other  places  they 
assembled  to  give  expression  to  their  grief  and  sorrow  by  memorial 
services  and  public  addresses,  recounting  the  story  of  his  life. 

The  universal  manifestation,  spontaneous  and  sincere,  did  not 
come  by  chance  or  accident,  hut  because  his  long  public  career  ren¬ 
dered  him  worthy  of  the  great  honors  that  were  paid  to  his  memory. 

Others  have  spoken  of  his  early  history  in  Mexico,  at  the  bar,  and 
in  the  State  legislature,  all  preliminary  to  larger  field  opening  up 
to  him  in  the  National  Congress  and  upon  the  great  theater  of  war. 
He  first  appeared  in  the  National  Capitol  and  took  a  seat  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  to  which  he  had  been  elected  from  the 
State  of  Illinois,  in  December,  1859.  He  was  elected  as  a  Democrat, 
and  whatever  part  he  took  in  the  public  discussions  of  that  session 
was  in  the  line  pursued  ’  ,  the  Democratic  party.  It  is  not  fitting 
here  and  now  to  speak  of  the  momentous  questions  which  then  agi¬ 
tated  the  public  mind  and  sharply  divided  political  parties.  He  was. 
thrown  into  the  midst  of  this  terrific  political  conflict,  which  even 
then  threatened  the  country  with  war.  He  arrayed  himself  on  the 
side  of  the  great  leader  of  one  faction  of  the  Democratic  party,  and 
in  the  Presidential  struggle  of  1860  he  espoused  the  cause  of  this 
great  leader  with  all  the  zeal  of  his  strong  personality,  and  in  his 


42 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

own  State  aimed  heavy  blows  at  the  Republican  party  and  the 
Southern  wing  of  his  own. 

That  struggle  ended  in  the  election  of  President  Lincoln,  which 

» 

was  soon  followed  by  the  opening  of  a  struggle  of  a  very  different 
nature.  This  conflict  of  arms,  though  long  predicted  by  many,  at 
last  came  suddenly  upon  the  country  without  preparation.  It  has 
been  said  that  ‘‘once  to  every  man  and  nation  comes  the  moment  to 
decide  in  the  strife  of  truth  with  falsehood  for  the  good  or  evil  side.” 
This  supreme  moment  came  then  not  only  to  the  country,  but  to  the 
citizen,  whatever  his  station.  General  Logan  did  not  hesitate,  but 
at  once,  with  his  great  leader,  arrayed  himself  on  the  side  of  his 
country.  So  deciding,  he  immediately  resigned  his  seat  in  Congress, 
surrendering  for  the  time  his  political  ambition,  returned  to  his 
native  State,  and  with  all  the  energy  and  impetuosity  of  his  nature 
proclaimed  his  purpose  to  enter  the  military  service  and  remain  in 
it  until  the  Union  was  restored.  This  among  his  constituents  was  a 
courageous  resolve,  as  from  their  location  and  political  education 
they  were  not  easily  persuaded  to  risk  all,  as  he  proposed,  to  save 
the  Union.  Such  was  the  force  of  his  character  and  the  persuasive¬ 
ness  of  his  arguments  that  in  a  very  few  days  he  found  himself  at 
the  head  of  a  regiment  largely  composed  of  his  political  associates 
and  friends. 

Here  began  that  conspicuous  military  record  which  four  years 
later  by  common  consent  placed  him  foremost  among  the  many 
eminent  civilian  commanders  of  that  great  conflict. 

I  shall  leave  others  to  speak  in  detail  of  his  military  career,  but 
cannot  refrain  from  saying  that  through  it  all  he  had  the  confidence 
of  his  military  superiors  as  one  fitted  to  command  a  great  army  in 
battle.  Sherman  assigned  him  to  the  supreme  command  on  the 
battlefield  of  Atlanta  after  McPherson  was  slain  ;  he  justified  that 
confidence  by  leading  the  army  to  victory.  Later  on  Grant  did 
not  hesitate  to  select  him  as  the  jnan  most  likely  to  achieve  a  victory 
at  Nashville,  when  he  was  growing  restless  at  the  delay  of  General 
Thomas.  Here  as  everywhere  he  showed  the  magnanimity  and 
generosity  of  the  true  soldier  by  not  wresting  the  command  from 
Thomas  on  the  threshold  of  a  great  victory. 

He  not  only  held  throughout  the  war  the  undiminished  confidence 
of  the  great  chieftains  I  have  named,  but  his  great  qualities  as  a  sol¬ 
dier  also  secured  for  him  the  respect,  esteem,  and  confidence  of  those 


Address  of  Mr.  Allison,  of  Iowa. 


43 


serving  under  him,  which  he  held  firmly  and  unreservedly  to  the 
end ;  and  the  soldiers  who  served  with  him  now  grieve  because  of 
the  loss  of  a  comrade,  companion,  and  friend,  and  they  will  repeat 
to  their  dying  day  around  their  camp  fires,  recounting  the  stories  of 
the  war,  “I  fought  with  Logan  at  Atlanta,”  or  “at  Jonesborough,” 
or  “at  Vicksburg. ” 

General  Logan  reappeared  in  this  Capitol  as  a  Representative  in 
March,  1867,  and  from  that  time  until  his  death,  excejDt  for  a  period 
of  two  years,  he  was  continuously  a  member  either  of  the  House  or 
of  the  Senate. 

His  ability  as  a  popular  orator  and  his  great  military  reputation 
gave  him  prominence  at  once  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  He 
fully  sustained  himself  in  that  great  popular  body  by  the  earnestness 
of  his  convictions,  by  his  skill  as  a  debater,  and  by  his  knowledge  of 
public  affairs.  He  soon  became  one  of  the  recognized  leaders  in  the 
consideration  and  discussion  of  the  great  questions  before  the  House. 
At  that  time,  and  by  the  vote  of  his  associates  in  that  body,  he  was 
chosen  to  appear  here  as  one  of  the  managers  in  behalf  of  the  House 
to  conduct  the  trial  of  the  impeachment  of  President  Johnson. 

The  questions  then  prominent  were  questions  growing  out  of  the 
war,  covering  the  entire  range  and  scope  of  the  powers  of  the  Gen¬ 
eral  Government,  the  reorganization  of  the  Army,  the  management 
of  the  public  debt,  the  reduction  of  taxes,  changes  in  our  tariff  and 
internal-revenue  systems,  the  currency,  specie  payments,  the  new 
amendments  to  the  Constitution,  and  the  restoration  of  the  States 
deprived  of  representation  because  of  the  rebellion.  All  these  ques¬ 
tions  and  many  others  were  in  a  brief  space  of  time  forced  upon  Con¬ 
gress  for  its  consideration.  General  Logan  had  decided  views  upon 
them  all,  and  expressed  his  views  fearlessly  and  with  great  force  and 
power. 

General  Logan  was  transferred  to  this  Chamber  in  1871.  He  was 
then  in  the  full  vigor  of  his  matured  faculties,  and  brought  with  him 
the  valuable  experience  of  a  long  service  in  the  House,  and  at  once 
took  high  rank  in  the  Senate,  which  he  maintained  undiminished  to 
the  end,  always  taking  an  active  part  in  the  discussion  of  the  great 
questions  constantly  appearing  here  for  action.  His  sympathy  with 
his  old  comrades  and  their  devotion  to  his  personal  fortunes  imposed 
upon  him  unusual  labor  in  caring  for  their  interests  and  welfare. 

He  was  assiduous  and  constant  in  the  advocacy  of  all  the  measures 


44 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


which  ho  and  they  deemed  of  especial  interest  to  them,  whether 
respecting  pensions,  bounty,  back  pay,  or  the  reorganization  of  the 
Army  itself,  and  be  became  their  conspicuous  advocate  and  friend. 
So  that  for  all  the  years  following  the  war  whatever  legislation  there 
is  upon  our  statute  books  upon  these  topics  bears  the  impress  of  his 
advocacy. 

He  was  a  man  of  tireless  activity  and  industry  in  the  Senate.  The 
Fitz-John  Porter  case  is  a  conspicuous  example  of  these  character¬ 
istics.  He  found  time  in  the  midst  of  the  multiplied  cares  of  a  seat 
in  this  body  to  write  an  exhaustive  history  of  the  causes  which  led 
to  the  conflict  in  which  he  bore  so  prominent  a  part. 

This  brief  retrospect  discloses  that  the  life  of  General  Logan  was 
one  of  ceaseless  activity  and  exceptional  usefulness  to  his  country. 

Few  men  of  this  generation  in  our  country  have  achieved  a  more 
illustrious  career. 

Coming  into  active  political  life  at  the  beginning  of  the  great  civil 
war,  he  has  linked  his  name  imperishably  with  the  military  achieve¬ 
ments  that  resulted  in  the  restoration  of  the  Union.  Coming  into 
the  councils  of  the  nation  soon  after  the  close  of  hostilities,  he  bore 
an  honorable  part  in  the  legislation  which  then  seemed  necessary 
for  the  perpetuation  of  the  Union. 

General  Logan  was  not,  in  the  common  acceptance  of  that  phrase, 
an  eloquent  man;  yet  he  had  extraordinary  power  as  a  popular 
orator.  There  was  something  inherent  in  his  character  and  method 
and  in  his  utterances  intensely  attractive  to  large  assemblies.  Few 
men  in  our  country  could  attract  larger  audiences,  or  hold  them 
more  firmly,  or  direct  them  more  certainly  to  the  views  he  expressed. 
This  characteristic  was  well  illustrated  in  the  campaign  of  1884, 
when  great  multitudes  gathered  to  hear  him,  and  listened  with  in¬ 
tense  interest  to  every  utterance,  and  were  persuaded  by  his  argu¬ 
ments  and  eloquence. 

Mr.  President,  this  body  in  its  organization  is  perpetual,  and  un¬ 
less  the  Constitution  shall  be  changed  will  endure  as  long  as  the 
Government  remains.  It  is  now  the  same  body  it  was  when  organ¬ 
ized  in  1789.  Its  members  have  the  longest  fixed  term  known  to  the 
Constitution  except  the  tenure  of  the  judges  of  our  courts ;  yet  its 
membership  rapidly  changes.  When  we  met  in  December  only  six 
Senators  appeared  in  their  seats  who  were  in  this  Chamber  fourteen 
years  ago,  when  I  entered  it.  One  of  these  was  General  Logan  ; 


Address  of  Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut. 


45 


and  of  all  the  men  who  have  come  and  gone  in  these  intervening 
years,  none  were  more  conspicuous  and  none  will  be  more  missed  by 
the  country  and  by  those  of  us  who  still  remain. 

My  service  with  him  began  in  the  other  House,  in  1867,  and  since 
that  time  we  have  been  associated  together  continuously  upon 
important  committees.  So  I  had  opportunity  to  know  him  well. 
Like  most  of  us,  he  was  not  free  from  faults  and  peculiarities  of 
disposition;  his  nature  was  sensitive;  he  was  quick  to  resent  an 
injury,  and  as  quick  to  forgive  it.  He  never  knowingly  did  an 
injustice  to  his  associates,  and  if  he  found  that  he  had  done  so  un¬ 
consciously,  he  was  swift  and  ready  to  make  reparation.  He  was 
conscientious  in  the  discharge  of  his  public  duties. 

In  his  death  the  nation  has  lost  one  of  its  ablest  counselors,  his 
comrades  in  the  army  one  of  their  most  ardent  and  devoted  support¬ 
ers,  we  in  this  Chamber  a  valued  co-worker  and  friend. 

The  arduous  labors,  the  conflicts  and  struggles  incident  to  high 
public  station  with  him  are  ended.  Those  who  survive  him  here 
will  struggle  on  for  a  few  brief  years  at  most,  and  will  then,  like 
him,  be  gathered  to  the  world  beyond,  to  receive  the  reward  which 
awaits  those  who  perform  faithfully  and  well  all  their  duties  here. 


Address  of  Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut. 

Mr.  President:  A  stranger  seeing  General  Logan  for  the  first  time 
and  observing  him  in  these  Halls  a  few  days  ago  would  perhaps  have 
said  that  the  most  prominent  feature  of  his  character  was  his  com¬ 
bativeness.  He  snuffed  the  battle  afar  off;  he  never  lagged  in  the 
rear  of  the  column;  he  crowded  to  the  front;  he  never  shirked  the 
combat:  he  went  out  to  look  for  it. 

He  was  quick  and  strong  in  his  likes  and  his  dislikes.  He  scorned 
double-dealing  and  meanness,  but  I  do  not  think  that  he  hated  any¬ 
body. 

We  have  seen  him  in  committee  and  here  in  this  Hall,  impetuous, 
trampling  down  all  obstacles  to  his  cause,  and  perhaps  trampling 
upon  the  feelings  of  his  associates.  We  have  seen  him  then,  upon  a 
protest,  drop  the  point  of  his  sword  instantly,  become  gentle,  quiet, 
conciliatory,  and  evidently  full  of  regret  that  he  had  even  appeared 
to  be  unjust  to  any  one. 


46  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

He  had  a  matchless  courage,  as  everybody  knows,  a  courage  not 
only  upon  the  battlefield  but  a  high  courage  and  spirit  of  self-sacri¬ 
fice  in  politics.  He  had  a  right  to  suppose  from  all  that  was  said  to 
him  by  great  multitudes  that  he  was  a  fair  and  honorable  candidate 
for  the  Presidency,  yet  he  cheerfully  accepted  a  subordinate  position 
upon  a  Presidental  ticket  in  1884  in  the  belief,  in  which  he  was 
strengthened  by  friends,  that  his  influence  and  his  acquaintance  with 
tens  of  thousands  of  soldiers  would  bring  something  of  strength  to 
his  political  party. 

We  remember  very  well  the  famous  Fitz-John  Porter  controversy. 
He  was  well  aware  in  what  he  was  doing  there  that  he  was  strength¬ 
ening  old  animosities  and  creating  new  ones ;  but  you  know  with 
what  a  splendid  courage  he  carried  himself  through,  with  what 
power,  with  what  indefatigable  industry  he  accumulated  his  facts 
and  arguments,  and  renewed  the  battle  again  and  again. 

I  remember  with  interest  that  during  the  controversy  over  the 
famous  anti-Chinese  bill  he  was  absent.  He  returned  after  a  time, 
and  while  he  was  under  no  obligation  to  say  anything,  he  was  op¬ 
posed  to  the  bill,  and  lest  he  might  be  even  thought  to  shirk — no, 
not  that,  but  because  he  desired  to  share  in  whatever  was  being  done 
— he  took  an  early  occasion  to  rise  here  and  manifest  his  vigorous 
and  determined  opposition  to  that  measure.  He  knew  well  what 
chances  he  took  then  of  losing  political  support. 

Not  a  great  while  ago  there  arose  here  a  very  painful  controversy 
concerning  the  Senatorial  representative  from  one  of  our  great 
States.  He  took  his  ground  firmly  ;  he  argued  it  with  all  his  accus¬ 
tomed  vigor  and  energy.  He  recognized  well  that  he  was  creating 
again  enemies  and  opponents — yes,  more  than  opponents,  bitter  ene¬ 
mies— in  a  great  State  that  would  be  essential  to  the  support  of  his 
ambition. 

I  remember  that  General  Logan  was  several  times  much  annoyed 
by  a  charge  that  about  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities,  or 
previous  to  it,  he  had  been  concerned  in  raising  troops  for  the  Con¬ 
federate  service.  It  was  a  charge  that  had  not  a  shadow  of  truth  in 
it.  He  was  a  Democrat,  of  course,  before  the  war,  and,  as  he  was  in 
everything  else,  intensely  a  Democrat,  fierce,  combative,  bitter  some¬ 
times  ;  but  as  the  contest  drew  near  the  fire  of  his  patriotism  blazed 
up  and  consumed  like  flax  all  obstacles  in  his  way,  and  he  became, 
as  you  have  learned  from  some  declarations  of  his  made  at  the  time. 


Address  of  Mr.  Hawley,  of  Connecticut.  47 

nothing  but  a  defender  of  the  Union.  And  not  only  as  a  soldier, 
for  he  carried  with  him  politically  the  people  of  Southern  Illinois, 
many  of  whom  in  their  political  prejudices  and  convictions  were  as 
completely  Southerners  as  the  people  of  Alabama.  He  swept  them 
along  with  him  by  the  power  and  fierce  energy  of  his  oratory. 

He  went  into  the  war.  After  Vicksburg  General  Grant  said  that 
McPherson  and  Logan  had  demonstrated  their  fitness  to  become  the 
commanders  of  independent  armies.  He  had  a  right  to  suppose, 
after  the  gallant  McPherson  had  fallen,  under  the  very  feet  of  an 
advancing  and  temporarily  triumphant  Confederate  force,  he  had  a 
fair  right  to  suppose  that  he  would  succeed  to  that 'Officer’s  com¬ 
mand.  He  was  second  in  rank.  The  soldiers  desired  it.  They  had 
seen  his  great  leadership  on  that  battlefield  as  011  many  others.  An¬ 
other  took  the  place,  an  honorable  and  gallant  soldier.  Logan  never 
wavered  for  a  moment. 

The  manly  generosity  and  high  courtesy  of  his  bearing  when  he 
was  ordered  to  relieve  the  noble  General  Thomas  have  been  de¬ 
scribed  to-day.  I  .do  not  contrast  General  Logan’s  action  on  that 
occasion  with  the  conduct  of  certain  others  in  similar  situations, 
though  there  were  examples  of  wonderful  contrast ;  but  he  was  as 
obedient  as  a  child,  faithful  as  ever.  His  complaints  were  probably 
uttered,  for  he  could  not  disguise  himself,  but  they  are  not  upon 
record. 

He  labored  under  the  reproach  that  he  was  something  of  a  politi¬ 
cal  soldier  in  those  days,  but  he  did  not  then  disclose  the  fact  that 
he  had  received  a  suggestion  he  could  not  disregard,  that  he  should 
go  to  Illinois,  another  battlefield  as  important  as  the  battlefield  of 
Atlanta. 

He  came  to  be  the  eminent  figure  among  the  volunteer  soldiers.  It 
is  so  recorded  ;  it  will  be  so  remembered  in  history.  There  is  no 
volunteer  soldier  of  the  old  Army,  the  most  captious  or  the  most 
jealous,  who  regrets  or  carps  at  any  of  the  great  honors  paid  to 
Logan  ;  for  whatever  is  said  of  Logan  as  the  chief  of  volunteers  is 
claimed  to  be  the  common  glory  of  them  all. 

I  heard  General  Grant  say*  once  of  him  in  private  conversation 
that  he  was  uneasy  in  camp  but  all  right  when  he  charged.  He 
sulked  in  his  tent,  but  it  Avas  because  it  was  a  tent.  When  the  bugle 
called  him  to  the  saddle  he  Avas  exultant,  happy. 

He  Avas  classed  as  a  political  general.  I  do  not  know  that  it  was 


48 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


altogether  an  unfriendly  remark.  He  was,  sir ;  he  had  the  honor  to 
be  a  political  general.  It  was  a  political  war,  and  he  was  as  strong 
in  one  field  of  battle  as  the  other ;  the  political  generals  did  double 
duty.  The  anxiety  during  some  of  the  great  days  of  those  four 
years  was  not  that  the  soldiers  of  the  Union  would  be  unable  to  put 
down  the  rebellion  in  due  time,  but  that  the  voters  at  the  ballot-box 
might  put  down  the  war  too  early;  and  some  of  the  political  combats 
won  by  Logan  and  others  at  home  were  as  useful  to  the  cause  of  the 
Union  as  the  triumphs  of  Vicksburg  and  Gettysburg.  Baker,  match¬ 
less  as  an  orator,  chivalrous  and  lovely  in  battle,  was  a  political 
.general.  Garfield,  giving  promise  of  great  generalship  by  an  uncon¬ 
querable  industry  and  energy,  and  a  brilliant  courage  in  the  face  of 
the  enemy’s  guns — Garfield,  obeying  what  was  almost  a  command, 
went  from  the  army  to  Congress.  Frank  Blair,  with  the  trumpet 
tones  of  his  voice  and  the  quiver  of  his  uplifted  finger,  was  worth  a 
corps  of  soldiers  in  his  influence  over  Missouri,  and  he  was  a  polit¬ 
ical  general. 

Scandal  spared  General  Logan  from  its  insinuations  of  dishonor 
in  private  or  public  life.  Perhaps  calumnious  mud  was  thrown  at 
him,  but  nothing  of  it  is  recorded  or  retained  in  the  memories  of 
men. 

He  loved  his  country.  Why,  sir,  that  is  true  of  sixty  millions  of 
people,  I  hope ;  but  he  loved  it  with  a  devotion  immeasurable  and 
unfathomable.  He  believed  in  the  justice,  the  equality,  and  the 
liberty  of  its  Constitution  and  its  laws.  He  had  no  doubt  whatever 
■of  the  wisdom  of  this  great  experiment,  universal  suffrage  and  all. 
He  was  no  agnostic;  he  had  a  creed  and  a  purpose  always,  in  every 
contest.  He  did  not  assume  all  knowledge;  but  what  he  knew,  he 
knew  he  knew;  and  what  he  believed  he  was  always  ready  to  say. 
Whatever  he  wanted,  he  greatly  wanted;  he  was  very  much  in  ear¬ 
nest.  He  trusted  the  great  jury  of  twelve  million  voters  and  had 
no  doubt  about  the  future  prosperity,  honor,  and  glory  of  the  great 
Republic. 

He  was  an  ambitious  man,  politically;  he  had  a  right  to  be,  and 
he  won  a  high  place.  He  was  ambitious  of  a  great  place  among  sol¬ 
diers,  and  he  won  it. 

He  was  generous,  he  was  frank,  he  was  tender.  Possibly  that  will 
sound  strangely  to  many  people  who  did  not  know  him  as  we  did. 
He  had  as  tender  a  heart  as  entered  these  doors.  He  was  one  of  the 


Address  of  Mr.  Spooner,  of  Wisconsin. 


49 


bravest  men  physically  and  morally  that  ever  lived.  He  was  a  brill¬ 
iant  and  great  volunteer  soldier.  He  was  an  incorruptible  citizen 
and  legislator.  His  patriotism  was  unsurpassed  in  enthusiasm,  in¬ 
tensity,  and  faith. 


Address  of  Mr.  Spooner,  of  Wisconsin. 

Mr.  President  :  The  busy  hand  of  death  beckons  us  again  to  the 
side  of  a  new-made  grave.  Amid  the  tears  and  sobs  of  this  great 
people,  to  the  music  of  muffled  drums,  and  under  the  furled  flag  which 
he  loved,  we  tenderly  bore  John  A.  Logan  to  his  rest. 

It  was  to  be  expected  that  the  words  of  tribute  spoken  in  this 
Chamber,  still  so  filled  with  his  presence,  would  come  fresh  and 
strong  from  warm  hearts,  for  his  wonderful  career  was  of  our  own 
day  and  generation,  and  we  were  his  colleagues  and  friends. 

But,  sir,  no  one  need  fear  for  Logan  the  cold  analysis  of  the  his¬ 
torian  yet  to  come.  How  little  dependent  is  this  man’s  fame  upon 
the  speech  of  his  contemporaries.  It  rests  upon  the  solid  foundation 
of  glorious  deeds  and  splendid  public  service.  We  may  well  say 
'  that  he  was  born  for  the  service  of  the  people,  for  the  active  years 
of  his  whole  life,  with  hardly  an  intermission,  were  spent  in  the 
discharge  of  public  duty.  That  life  was  an  open  book,  read  and 
known  of  all  men,  and  biographical  details  of  it  are  for  my  purpose 
quite  unnecessary.  It  is  said  that  “  history  is  the  essence  of  innumer¬ 
able  biographies.”  Logan’s  life  is  of  the  essence  of  our  history. 

With  him  love  of  country  was  a  passion,  and  with  him  the  union 
of  the  States  was  “the  country.”  He  could  see,  save  through  the 
perpetuity  of  that  Union,  nothing  of  any  worth  in  the  future  of  the 
Republic. 

Of  strong  convictions  and  prejudices,  a  stern  partisan,  reared 
among  those  whose  predilections  and  views  of  constitutional  right 
were  distinctly  of  the  Southern  school,  the  friend  and  trusted  lieu¬ 
tenant  of  Douglas,  it  will  stand  forever  to  the  credit  of  his  clearness 
of  mental  vision  and  of  his  independence  of  character,  that  when 
the  war  cloud  which  had  been  so  long  gathering  broke  in  fury  upon 
the  country,  he  straightway  took  his  rightful  place  by  the  side  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  under  the  beautiful  flag  which,  at  the  threshold  of 
his  manhood,  he  had  followed  upon  the  plains  of  Mexico. 

4  L 


50  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

His  star  shot  into  the  sky  at  Belmont,  to  shine  fixed  and  unobscured 
forever. 

It  would  he  idle  for  me  to  recount  the  battles  which  he  fought  and 
won,  the  precipitous  charges  which  he  led,  the  marvelous  personal 
magnetism  and  daring  which,  communicating  itself  to  a  whole  army, 
turned,  as  by  the  will  power  of  one  man,  defeat  into  victory.  It  is 
enough  to  say  of  him  as  a  soldier  that  by  common  consent  he  stands 
forth  the  ideal  volunteer  soldier  of  the  war.  He  was,  among  a 
million  brave  men,  original,  picturesque,  and  unique.  There  was 
but  one  John  A.  Logan.  What  a  pitiful  combination  of  folly  and 
malignity  was  that  which  thrust  at  such  a  one  the  charge  of  disloy¬ 
alty  ! 

The  world  loves,  and  easily  remembers,  the  soldier.  Tales  of  the 
bivouac  and  the  siege  and  the  charge,  of  personal  daring  on  the  field 
of  battle,  have  had  peculiar  fascination  for  men  in  every  age,  and 
doubtless  Logan’s  chief  renown  will  be  as  a  soldier.  He  would  have 
it  so. 

But,  great  as  he  was  in  war,  he  was  great  also  as  an  orator  of  the 

\ 

people,  and  in  the  councils  of  peace.  He  won  as  an  orator  a  reputa¬ 
tion  which,  if  he  had  no  other  claim  to  be  remembered,  would  keep 
his  name  alive  and  would  satisfy  any  reasonable  ambition.  His  pop¬ 
ularity  as  a  speaker  was  not  ephemeral,  nor  was  it  peculiar  to  any 
section.  He  was  everywhere  welcome.  Listening  thousands  hung 
in  rapt  interest  upon  his  words.  It  is  not  at  all  difficult  to  account 
for  his  power  as  a  speaker.  His  evident  sincerity  and  earnestness, 
his  commanding  presence,  the  flash  of  his  eye,  the  like  of  which  I 
never  saw  in  any  other  face,  the  boldness  of  his  utterance,  the  im¬ 
petuous  flow  of  his  speech,  and  the  trumpet  tones  of  his  voice,  gave 
to  him  as  a  popular  orator  a  charm  indescribable.  Ho  man  could 
catch  more  quickly  than  he  the  spirit  of  his  audience,  or  more  deftly 
adapt  himself  to  its  fancy. 

The  law  of  his  life  was  action.  He  could  not  rest.  It  is  said  of 
him  that  as  a  soldier  he  was  chafing  and  unhappy  unless  the  army 
was  in  motion  and  the  battle  near  at  hand.  This  characteristic  was 
quite  as  marked  in  civil  life. 

He  was  a  student  and  a  worker,  and  as  the  years  went  on  he  grew 
in  mental  strength  and  stature  and  in  oratorical  power. 

As  the  nominee  of  his  party  for  the  second  great  office  in  the  gift 
of  the  people,  he  added  greatly  to  his  civic  fame.  The  dignity  of  his 


Address  of  Mr.  Spooner,  of  Wisconsin. 


51 


bearing,  tlie  method  and  manner  of  his  thought  and  speech,  were 
everywhere  a  revelation  to  those  who  then  heard  him  for  the  first 
time.  Other  orators  have  been  more  finished,  but,  sir,  it  is  not  the 
language  of  fulsome  eulogy  to  say  that,  taking  John  A.  Logan  all 
im  all,  he  was  a  great  orator,  and  will  be  known  as  such. 

He  possessed,  also,  indisputable  claims  to  high  statesmanship. 
Look  through  the  statutes  and  the  records  of  Congress,  and  you  will 
find  there  the  same  impress  of  his  character  and  individuality.  Many 
acts  of  grave  civic  consequence  he  devised  and  drafted.  As  a  legis¬ 
lator  he  was  broad-minded  and  fearless.  Neither  the  love  of  com¬ 
mendation  nor  the  fear  of  criticism  swerved  him  in  tlie  least  from 
the  path  blazed  out  by  his  convictions.  He  was  ready  in  debate  and 
a  dangerous  antagonist  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate. 

One  cannot  fail  to  notice,  looking  through  the  record  of  his  work 
in  the  National  Senate,  everywhere  the  evidence  of  service  rendered 
to  the  soldier,  and  to  the  soldier’s  widow  and  orphan.  Every  thought 
that  loving  comradeship  and  appreciation  of  great  service  and  sacri¬ 
fice  could  suggest  for  the  soldier’s  good  you  will  find  at  some  time 
formulated  into  statute  by  his  faithful  hand.  He  took  it  upon  him 
as  a  sacred  trust  that  he  should  look  always  to  the  interest  of  those 
who  with  him  had  stood  in  the  shock  of  battle.  Well  may  the  sur¬ 
viving  soldiers  of  the  Federal  Army — now,  alas,  fast  falling  by  the 
wayside — as  they  gather  around  their  camp-fires,  weep  bitter  tears 
for  the  loss  of  Logan. 

Though  a  chieftain  of  his  party,  he  was  not  narrow  or  sectional  as 
a  legislator.  He  met  more  than  half  way  those  who  had  but  lately 
been  his  adversaries  on  the  field  of  battle.  No  man  more  desired  the 
restoration  of  perfect  harmony  between  the  sections  or  the  upbuild¬ 
ing  of  the  waste  places  of  the  South  or  gave  readier  aid  to  that  great 
consummation.  He  demanded  only  in  return  that  every  man  and 
woman  and  child,  of  whatever  condition,  class,  or  degree,  should 
enjoy  unobstructed  and  in  the  fullest  measure  every  right  given  by 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws.  With  less  than  this  he  thought  it 
moral  treason  to  be  content. 

Logan  was  a  leader  by  divine  right.  All  the  elements  combined 
to  make  him  such.  Of  resistless  energy,  iron  will,  knightly  daring, 
lofty  moral  courage,  quick  and  acute  intelligence,  fervent  patriotism, 
unselfish  loyalty  to  principle  and  friendship,  and  unswerving  honor, 
it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  him  as  other  than  a  great  leader  in 


52 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


any  field  of  human  effort.  Scan  his  eventful  life  however  critically, 
study  the  forces  which  moved  him,  analyze  the  characteristics  which 
marked  him  from  his  fellows,  and  you  will  find  little  indeed  of  ac¬ 
cident  or  adventitious  aid  in  the  achievements  which  will  glorify  his 
name.  It  is  no  marvel  that  he  was  a  great  soldier,  or  that  he  was  an 
orator  of  high  repute,  or  that  he  was  conspicuous  among  the  leading 
statesmen  of  his  day,  hut  that  he  united  in  himself  all  of  these  is 
conclusive  of  his  genius. 

He  was,  with  all  his  rugged  strength  of  will  and  bravery  and  for¬ 
titude,  a  sensitive  man,  easily  wounded  by  a  personal  or  party 
friend.  In  the  retrospect  we  see  now,  with  unavailing  regret,  how 
keenly  he  may  have  suffered  in  spirit  from  what  gave  us  little 
thought  or  concern.  Quick  to  resent  what  seemed  to  him  a  wrong, 
he  was,  like  all  great  natures,  as  quick  to  forgive  and  forget.  He 
was  magnanimous.  No  manly  man  found  it  difficult  to  repair,  with¬ 
out  loss  of  self-respect,  a  quarrel  with  John  A.  Logan. 

He  was,  in  many  ways,  a  proud  man.  He  carried  for  a  quarter  of 
a  century  upon  his  body  wounds  received  in  battle.  He  bore,  with¬ 
out  complaint,  racking  pains,  horn  of  the  privations  of  the  soldier's 
life,  of  the  pelting  storm,  the  comfortless  bed  upon  the  frozen  earth, 
the  cold,  wearisome  march,  the  sleepless  nights  and  toilsome  days. 
Standing  in  his  place  on  the  16tli  of  March  last,  he  said  : 

I  could  say — but  I  dislike  to  mention  myself — that  I  was  entitled  to  a  pension 
early  in  the  war,  and  have  been  ever  since  the  war,  but  I  have  never  asked  for  it, 
and  never  expect  to. 

Mr.  President,  we  now  know  that  there  were  times  in  his  later 
years  when  the  days  were  dark,  and  when  the  stress  of  financial  em¬ 
barrassment  pressed  him  hard,  hut  he  was  too  proud  and  delicate  to 
claim  the  pension  which  was  his  due  under  the  laws  which  he  had 
been  so  potential  in  fashioning  and  in  enacting.  I  hope  if  the  words 
I  am  about  to  utter  are  a  sin  against  the  proprieties  of  this  occasion 
that  I  shall  be  forgiven ;  but  I  do  not  doubt  that  as  he  stood  there, 
announcing  to  the  Senate  and  to  the  country  his  right  to  a  pension, 
he  had  abiding  faith  that  should  he,  in  the  providence  of  God,  be 
first  called,  the  people  whom  he  had  served  so  long  and  so  well  would 
pay,  not  grudgingly,  but  as  in  cheerful  payment  of  a  debt  of  honor, 
to  the  womanly  woman  who  in  all  the  years  of  his  growth  had  kept 
pace  with  him,  who  had  been  his  love,  his  pride,  his  companion,  that 
which  was  his  due,  but  which  he  had  forborne  to  claim. 

That  is  not  a  full  tribute  to  the  memory  of  John  A.  Logan  which 


53 


Address  of  Mr.  Cockrell,  of  Missouri. 

takes  no  thought  of  her  whose  life  has  been  a  part  of  his  life  and 
whose  fame  is  linked  inseparably  with  his  fame.  What  tenderer, 
sweeter  tribute  can  the  American  people  pay  to  his  memory  than  to 
place  above  the  calamitous  vicissitudes  of  life  the  woman  who  was 
ever  by  his  side,  not  alone  in  the  hour  of  triumph  but  in  the  hour  of 
pain  and  suffering ;  not  alone  in  this  beautiful  capital  city,  but  in 
the  rude  hospital  on  the  banks  of  the  distant  Western  river  where 
he  lay  wounded  nigh  unto  death  ? 

He  died  in  the  service  of  his  country,  and  we  know  from  him — for 
he  “  being  dead,  yet  speaketh” — that  his  strength  and  vigor  were 
sapped  and  mined  by  the  privations  and  the  wounds  of  war. 

How  difficult  it  is  to  think  of  him  as  dead  ! 

Can  that  man  be  dead 
Whose  spiritual  influence  is  upon  his  kind? 

He  lives  in  glory  ;  and  his  speaking  dust 
Has  more  of  life  than  half  its  breathing  moulds. 

He  will  live,  sir,  in  the  hearts  of  men  until  the  history  of  his  time 
shall  have  faded  utterly  away.  With  each  returning  May,  wherever 
there  is  a  soldier’s  grave — and  where  is  there  not  a  soldier’s  grave  ? — 
the  people  now  living  and  those  to  come  after  us  will  remember  the 
name  of  Logan,  the  patriot,  soldier,  orator,  and  statesman,  and  will 
bring,  in  honor  of  his  memory,  the  beautiful  flowers  of  the  spring¬ 
time  and  the  sweet  incense  of  praise  and  prayer. 


Address  of  Mr.  Cockrell,  of  Missouri. 

Mr.  President:  With  profound  sorrow  and  deep  grief  I  join  in 
paying  the  last  official  tribute  of  respect,  honor,  friendship,  and  love 
to  the  memory  of  our  late  distinguished  colleague,  John  Alex¬ 
ander  Logan. 

For  the  first  time,  in  March,  1875,  I  had  the  pleasure  and  honor  of 
his  personal  acquaintance  in  this  Chamber. 

For  the  succeeding  two  years,  and  then  from  March  4,  1879,  to  the 
day  of  his  death,  I  was  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Military 
Affairs,  of  which  he  was  the  honored  chairman.  Our  official  and 
personal  relations  at  once  became,  and  uninterruptedly  continued, 
most  intimate,  cordial,  and  friendly.  However  widely  we  may  have 
differed  upon  many  questions,  I  respected,  admired,  honored,  and 


54  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

loved  him  for  his  many  noble,  manly,  generous,  magnanimous,  and 
chivalrous  qualities  of  head  and  heart — the  distinguishing  attributes 
of  the  true  soldier  and  great  man  among  all  nations  and  tongues. 

It  was  my  sad  privilege  on  December  26,  1886,  at  2.55  p.  m.,  to 
stand  at  the  foot  of  his  bed,  and,  powerless  for  relief,  to  see  him 
quietly,  peacefully,  and  unconsciously  breathe  the  last  breath  of  his 
.  life  on  earth. 

His  deathless  soul,  freed  from  its  earthly  body,  racked,  tortured, 
and  paralyzed  by  disease  and  pain,  triumphantly  passed  through  the 
mystic  veil  intervening  between  the  grievous  afflictions  and  bereave¬ 
ments  of  earth  and  the  fullness  of  joy  in  the  presence  and  the  ever¬ 
lasting  pleasures  at  the  right  hand  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  and 
entered  upon  its  glorious  unending  life'upon  the  beautiful  shores  of 
the  “bright  forever,”  far,  far  beyond  the  touch  of  disease,  suffering, 
or  death. 

Now  beyond  the  reach  of  fulsome  praise  or  eloquent  panegyric, 
we  can  calmly  consider  his  life,  and  profit  therefrom. 

About  the  year  1823  Dr.  John  Logan  emigrated  from  Ireland  and 
located  in  Jackson  County,  Illinois,  and  there  married  Miss  Elizabeth 
Jenkins.  Of  this  union  John  Alexander  Logan  was  the  first  born, 
February  9,  1826,  and  inherited  a  robust  physical  constitution  and 
vigorous  mind,  the  richest  inheritance  bequeathed  by  parents  to 
children. 

In  that  section  pf  the  then  W est  educational  advantages  were  very 
limited,  and  young  Logan  was  taught  at  home,  and  attended  the 
common  schools  of  the  neighborhood  as  opportunity  offered,  and  a 
neighboring  academy;  and  by  industry,  perseverance,  and  self-reli¬ 
ance  obtained  a  fair  education. 

We  see  him  a  young  man  about  twenty  years  old  in  his  native 
county,  without  wealth,  family  distinction,  or  influential  friends  to 
aid  him,  having  only  the  future  and  its  possibilities  before  him  to 
inspire  and  nerve  him  for  the  battles  of  life,  the  architect  of  his  own 
fortune,  free  to  plan  and  execute  as  he  would  and  could.  With 
honesty,  determination,  and  self-reliance  he  boldly  moved  forward, 
conscious  that  “life  gives  nothing  to  mortals  without  great  labor.” 
He  enlisted  as  a  private  soldier  in  the  First  Illinois  Regiment  for 
service  in  the  war  with  Mexico,  and  became  a  lieutenant,  acting  ad¬ 
jutant,  and  quartermaster,  faithfully  discharging  his  duties. 

Upon  the  conclusion  of  peace  he  returned  home  with  a  broader 


V 


Address  of  Mr.  Cockrell,  of  Missouri. 


55 


view  of  life  and  laudably  increased  ambition,  and  began  the  study 
of  law  in  the  office  of  his  uncle — Hon.  A.  M.  Jenkins — and  in  1849 
was  elected  clerk  of  the  county  court  of  his  native  county ;  served 
as  such  about  one  year,  then  resigned  and  attended  the  law  school 
of  Louisville  University,  and  graduated  therefrom  in  1851. 

Returning  home  he  entered  upon  the  practice  of  law  with  his  uncle 
and  was  elected  to  the  legislature  of  Illinois  in  1852, ’53, ’56,  and  ’57,  . 
and  to  the  office  of  prosecuting  attorney  for  the  third  judicial  dis¬ 
trict  in  1853. 

In  1855  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Cunningham,  a,  most  happy 
and  fortunate  union.  In  1856  he  was  Presidential  elector,  and  cast 
his  vote  for  Buchanan  and  Breckinridge.  In  1858  he  was  elected  a 
Representative  in  the  Thirty-sixth  Congress,  and  in  1860  was  re¬ 
elected  to  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  and  served  his  term  in  the 
Thirty-sixth  Congress  from  March  4,  1859,  to  March  3,  1861,  and  en¬ 
tered  upon  his  term  in  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  and  attended 
the  called  session  in  1861.  While  attending  that  session  he  shoul- 
deied  his  musket  as  a  private  soldier  in  the  Second  Michigan  Volun¬ 
teers,  and  marched  to  and  participated  in  the  battle  of  Bull  Run. 
He  then  resigned  his  seat  in  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  entered 
the  Union  Army,  raised  and  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  Thirty- 
first  Regiment  Illinois  Infantry  Augusf  16,  1861,  marched  to  the 
front  in  the  field,  and  there  continued. 

* 

He  was  promoted  to  be  brigadier-general  in  March,  1862,  and  then 
major-general,  and  commanded  successively  a  regiment,  brigade, 
division,  an  army  corps,  and  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  On  Au¬ 
gust  17,  1865,  after  full  four  years’  service,  he  resigned  his  commis¬ 
sion  as  major-general,  and  was  honorably  mustered  out.  He  was 
then  appointed  by  President  Johnson  minister  to  Mexico,  and  re¬ 
signed. 

Returning  to  the  walks  of  civil  life  he  resumed  the  practice  of  law 
in  his  native  Illinois.  In  1866  he  was  elected  a  Representative  at 
large  from  Illinois  to  the  Fortieth  Congress,  and  re-elected  to  the 
Forty-first  Congress,  serving  from  March  4,  1867,  to  March  3,  1871, 
and  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  for  the  term  be¬ 
ginning  March  4,  1871 ;  and  was  again  elected  to  the  Senate  for  the 
term  beginning  March  4,  1879,  and  re-elected  for  the  succeeding  term 
from  March  4,  1885,  to  March  3,  1891. 


5 G  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

In  1884  he  was  the  nominee  of  the  National  Republican  party  for 
Vice-President. 

This  bird’s-eye  view  of  his  life-record  and  services  is  just  suffi¬ 
ciently  distinct  and  full  to  enable  us  to  form  correct  impressions  of 
this  great  man — our  lamented  colleague  in  this  Chamber.  In  all 
these  varied  positions  of  trust  and  honor  he  was,  and  proved  him¬ 
self  to  be,  honest,  determined,  self-reliant,  faithful,  and  efficient,  and 
the  worthy  recipient  of  the  friendship  and  confidence  of  the  people. 

For  the  length  of  time  devoted  to  his  profession  he  was  a  good 
lawyer. 

Among  all  the  many,  great,  and  distinguished  volunteer  officers 
during  the  late  war,  it  is  no  disparagement  of  any  of  them  to  say 
that  General  Logan  was  the  greatest  and  most  distinguished.  Cour¬ 
ageous,  fearless,  energetic,  untiring,  generous,  and  dashing,  he  was 
the  beau  ideal  of  the  American  volunteer  soldiery.  For  four  long, 
weary  years,  during  the  greatest  military  conflict  the  world  has  ever 
beheld,  General  Logan,  as  a  private  soldier,  a  commander  of  a  reg¬ 
iment,  then  of  a  brigade,  then  of  a  division,  then  of  an  army  corps, 

and  then  of  an  army,  met  and  satisfied  the  highest  expectations  and 

% 

demands  of  the  administration,  the  country,  and  the  people.  No 
man  could  do  more.  As  a  Representative  and  Senator  in  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  he  was  incorruptible,  faithful,  diligent,  and  la¬ 
borious,  and  was  earnest  in  his  convictions  and  forcible  and  aggres¬ 
sive  in  their  advocacy. 

His  repeated  re-elections  to  both  the  House  and  Senate  by  the  same 
constituency  attested  their  continued  friendship  and  confidence,  and 
their  approbation  of  his  character  and  services.  In  his  personal  in¬ 
tercourse  he  was  manly,  generous,  candid,  and  sincere. 

As  a  husband  and  father  he  was  devoted,  faithful,  tender,  loving, 
and  warmly  appreciative  of  the  boundless  love  and  undying  devo¬ 
tion  of  his  noble  wife  and  dutiful  children.  As  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  he  was  “not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ ;  for  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that 
believeth.” 

The  name,  the  fame,  the  life,  and  the  illustrious  and  successful 
achievements  of  General  Logan  are  now  the  common  heritage  of 
our  great  country  and  people,  and  will  be  cherished  and  remembered 
by  the  present  and  coming  generations. 

Many  poor,  worthy,  and  honorably  ambitious  young  men,  just  en- 


Address  of  Mr.  Frye,  of  Maine.  57 

tering  the  arena  of  active  life,  faint,  weary,  and  despondent,  will 
remember  the  great  disadvantages  surrounding  General  Logan  when 
at  their  age,  and  then  his  subsequent  illustrious  and  successful  life, 
attained  by  his  honesty,  perseverance,  and  self-reliance,  and  made- 
possible  to  all  by  our  unequaled  systems  of  government— the  best 
ever  yet  devised  by  the  wisdom  of  sages  or  attained  by  the  blood  of 
heroes— and  will  take  fresh  courage  and  worthily  imitate  the  illus¬ 
trious  pattern,  and  make  themselves  a  blessing  and  honor  to  country 
and  people. 

The  life  and  achievements  of  Logan,  cast  upon  the  bosom  of  the 
public  life  in  the  United  States,  have  started  waves  of  influence  and 
power  for  good  which  will  widen  and  extend  until  they  break  against 
the  shores  of  eternity  in  the  resurrection  morning. 


Address  of  Mr.  Frye,  of  Maine. 

Mr.  President  :  Senators  have  brought  to-day,  and  will  brings 
garlands  and  wreaths  with  which  to  decorate  the  grave  of  our  dead 
soldier  and  Senator.  I  shall  content  myself  with  offering  a  single? 
flower. 

Logan  was  an  honest  man.  I  do  not  mean  by  that  simply  that  he 
would  not  steal,  that  he  would  not  bear  false  witness,  that  he  had 
not  an  itching  palm  for  a  bribe.  If  this  were  all,  he  would  not  be? 
unlike  every  man  I  have  been  associated  with  in  both  Houses  of 
Congress  during  a  sixteen  years’  service,  nor  essentially  different,  im 
my  opinion,  from  a  large  majority  of  his  fellow-citizens. 

Sir,  the  press,  very  generally  and  occasionally  an  eulogist  to-day,, 
in  assigning  to  General  Logan  this  admirable  quality  of  character,, 
have  contracted  and  dwarfed  it,  have  seemed  to  make  money  its-- 
measure,  by  producing  as  evidence  in  its  support  the  fact  that  he- 
had  served  long  in  public  life  and  died  poor.  The  Senator  from 
Missouri  has  just  said  that  he  was  poor,  that  he  was  incorruptible. 
I  trust,  sir,  that  the  same  honesty  and  incorruptibility  may  truth¬ 
fully  be  ascribed  to  every  Senator  within  the  sound  of  my  voice,  to- 
every  member  of  the  two  Houses.  Is  there  any  necessary  connec¬ 
tion  between  honesty  and  poverty  ?  Is  the  one  the  logical  sequence? 
of  the  other  ?  Are  dishonesty  and  wealth  in  copartnership  ?  I  have 


58  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

been  taught  to  believe,  and  do  believe,  that  honesty  is  the  broadest, 
safest,  and  surest  pathway  to  prosperity. 

I  do  not  regard  it  as  eulogistic  of  this  great  man  to  say  that  he 
was  honest  in  that  narrow  sense.  I  do  not  cripple  my  declaration 
by  any  such  limitation,  nor  sustain  it  by  any  such  questionable  tes¬ 
timony.  I  mean  that  General  Logan  had  an  honest  mind,  an  honest 
purpose,  an  honest  habit  of  thinking.  I  mean  that  he  never  played 
tricks  with  his  mental  machinery  to  serve  his  own  ends  and  his  own 
purposes.  I  mean  that  he  never  attempted  jugglery  with  it.  I 
mean  that  he  permitted  it,  in  spite  of  his- ambitions,  his  prejudices, 
his  jealousies,  and  his  passions,  to  move  straight  forward  in  its  opera¬ 
tions  ;  and  that  the  legitimate  results  were  convictions — convictions 
followed  always  by  earnest,  determined,  intense  action.  In  my 
opinion  that  largely  constituted  General  Logan’s  strength  in  the 
Senate,  in  the  Army,  and  with  the  people. 

Let  me  illustrate  by  a  few  brief  incidents  of  his  life.  He  was  living 
in  Southern  Illinois,  where  there  was  little  if  any  anti-slavery  senti¬ 
ment,  at  a  time  when  slavery  was  never  more  firmly  established  by 
•enactment  of  law  and  judicial  decision,  at  the  time  when  it  was  arro¬ 
gant  and  aggressive  in  its  demands.  Yet  Logan  stemmed  the  cur¬ 
rent,  disregarded  his  own  apparent  self-interest,  and  resisted  the  de¬ 
mands.  He  was  associated  with  a  party  whose  shibboleth  was  State 
rights,  whose  overshadowing  fear  was  centralization  of  power  in  the 
National  Government ;  and  when  that  doctrine  culminated  in  seces¬ 
sion  he  dropped  it  at  once  forever  and  tendered  his  sword  to  the  threat¬ 
ened  and  imperiled  Republic. 

W ar  came  on.  He  believed  that  war  was  a  serious  fact ;  that  it 
was  to  be  waged  for  the  suppression  of  rebellion  and  the  restoration 
of  the  Union.  Hence  in  every  council  of  war  his  voice  was  always 
for  battle,  and  in  every  battle  he  was  ever  at  the  front. 

Some  of  the  prominent  officers  were  for  temporizing,  were  studying 
political  enigmas,  were  nursing  Presidential  aspirations,  were  casting 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  supposed  rivals.  Logan  never  swerved  to 
the  right  nor  to  the  left,  but  pressed  ever  straight  forward  to  the  goal 
of  ultimate  victory. 

When  in  the  midst  of  the  war  preferment  was  offered  him,  aye, 
more,  urged  upon  him  by  his  friends,  he  did  not  hesitate  a  moment, 
but  with  emphasis  declared  to  them  that  he  had  enlisted  for  the  war, 
and  that,  God  helping  him,  he  would  fight  it  out  on  that  line  to  the 


59 


Address  of  Mr.  Frye,  of  Maine. 

end.  When  he  was  superseded,  as  he  believed  unjustly,  as  has  been 
well  said  to-day,  he  did  not  sulk  in  his  tent  a  single  hour,  but  marched 
straight  forward  in  the  line  of  duty. 

When  the  war  was  over,  the  Union  was  restored  and  peace  was 
enthroned,  and  a  grateful  people  showered  upon  him  public  honors 
he  exhibited  everywhere  the  same  characteristics.  Take  the  case 
which  has  been  alluded  to  here  to-day  of  General  Porter.  Logan 
believed,  whether  justly  or  unjustly  is  not  for  me  now  to  say,  that 
this  man  was  jealous  of  his  superiors,  that  criticisms  and  complaints 
subversive  of  discipline  were  made  by  him,  that  he  neglected  plain 
and  open  duty,  that  he  refused  to  obey  peremptory  orders,  and  that 
his  punishment  was  just.  In  this  Chamber  we  listened  to  his  match¬ 
less,  marvelous,  powerful,  convincing  speech  against  his  restoration ; 
and  when  his  great  captain,  with  a  voice  infinitely  more  powerful 
with  this  soldier  hero  than  the  glittering  bribes  of  gold  or  of  fame, 
called  him  to  a  halt  he  did  not  hesitate  a  moment,  but  with  renewed 
vigor,  with  redoubled  power,  urged  his  convictions  upon  the  Senate. 

We  all  remember  perfectly  well  that  Logan  knew  his  comrades 
saved  the  Republic,  and  in  season  and,  as  many  thought,  out  of  sea¬ 
son,  he  was  ready  to  propose  and  to  advocate  any  measure  for  their 
relief  that  commended  itself  to  his  judgment,  not  taking  for  a 
moment  into  account  any  public  sentiment  that  might  be  hostile. 

When  his  great  commander  was  for  a  third  time  urged  by  his 
friends  for  the  candidacy  by  the  Republican  party  for  the  office  of 
President,  and  it  was  apparent  to  all  thinking  men  that  it  was  to  be 
a  struggle  fierce,  full  of  intense  bitterness,  Logan  went  to  the  front 
in  that  fight  utterly  regardless  of  any  effect  that  it  might  have  upon 
his  own  political  fortunes. 

I  have  seen  within  a  few  days  an  item  floating  in  the  press  that  in 
that  ever  to  be  remembered  convention,  when  it  was  apparent  that 
Mr.  Blaine  could  not  be  nominated,  Senators  Hale  and  Frye  visited 
General  Logan  and  tendered  to  him  the  support  of  their  friends  for 
the  nomination  if  he  would  accept  the  candidacy.  Of  course  it  was 
a  myth.  Senators  Hale  and  Frye  both  knew  John  A.  Logan,  and 
had  known  him  for  years,  and  even  if  they  had  been  vested  with 
the  authority,  which  they  were  not,  they  never  would  have  dreamed 
of  undertaking  to  bribe  him  from  his  allegiance.  They  knew  that 
no  gratification  of  personal  ambition  (and  it  is  the  greatest  tempta¬ 
tion  to  a  man  on  earth)  would  move  him  from  his  allegiance  to 


60 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Grant  in  that  fight  any  more  than  a  summer  breeze  would  stir  a 
mountain  from  its  base. 

Sir,  when  subsequently  Logan  himself  justly  had  aspirations  for 
the  same  nomination,  I  sat  here  in  this  seat  by  the  side  of  that  which 
now  is  empty  a  curious  observer,  and  I  dare  assert  that  I  never  saw 
him  trim  his  sail  in  the  slightest.  I  never  could  perceive  that  the 
fact  made  any  change  in  his  thought  or  word  or  vote. 

About  that  time  the  Republican  national  committee  met  here  in 
Washington  to  determine  upon  the  time  of  holding  the  convention 
and  to  settle  upon  the  basis  of  representation.  Logan  was  present. 
A  delegate  from  one  of  the  Territories  raised  the  question  about  Ter¬ 
ritorial  representation,  and  insisted  that  his  Territory  must  have 
three  delegates  in  that  convention,  and  that  it  was  the  duty  of  that 
committee  to  increase  the  representation  of  the  Territories  generally. 
As  he  was  closing  his  speech  he  turned  to  Logan  and  significantly 
said,  ‘  ‘  Candidates  for  the  Presidency  had  better  take  notice.  ”  Logan 
sprang  to  his  feet  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  and  boldly  denounced 
the  whole  system  of  Territorial  representation  in  national  conven¬ 
tions  as  unjustifiable,  utterly  oblivious  of  the  fact  that  perhaps  he 
was  hazarding  that  marvelous  prize  for  which  he  was  then  con¬ 
tending. 

Mr.  President,  there  is  not  a  Senator  within  the  sound  of  my  voice, 
and  there  are  Senators  here  who  have  served  in  the  councils  of  the 
nation  many  years  with  John  A.  Logan,  who  ever  knew  him  to  hes¬ 
itate  or  waver  in  or  shrink  from  any  expression  of  opinion  as  to  any 
subject  under  consideration;  who  ever  knew  him  to  avoid  a  vote; 
who  ever  suspected  him  of  taking  any  account  whatsoever  of  what 
effect  his  words  or  his  acts  would  have  upon  his  own  personal  or 
political  fortunes.  There  is  not  a  Senator  within  the  sound  of  my 
voice  who,  when  Logan  had  expressed  his  opinions,  the  result  of  his 
convictions,  ever  dreamed  that  he  was  not  entirely,  faultlessly  sin¬ 
cere  in  the  expression. 

Mr.  President,  Logan  was  a  fearlessly  honest  man.  May  our  dear 
Lord  give  him  a  blessed  rest  and  a  glorious  immortality.  [Mani¬ 
festations  of  applause  in  the  galleries.] 


Address  of  Mr.  Plumb,  of  Kansas. 


61 


Address  of  Mr.  Plumb,  of  Kansas. 

Mr.  President  :  It  is  one  of  the  chief  excellencies  of  our  institu¬ 
tions  that  no  man,  however  exalted  in  station,  great  in  intellect,  or 
rich  in  graces  of  character,  is  indispensable  to  their  security,  growth, 
and  permanence.  Where  rank  comes  by  inheritance,  and  the  es¬ 
sence  as  well  as  the  symbols  of  authority  is  transmitted  from  gener¬ 
ation  to  generation,  a  single  life  often  stands  as  the  only  barrier 
against  threatened  revolution  or  anarchy.  \ 

How  different  here  !  Great  characters,  in  whom  center  the  affec¬ 
tions  of  the  people  and  the  forces  of  the  State,  pass  from  the  current 
speech  of  men  into  the  repose  of  history,  while  the  state  itself,  dom¬ 
inated  by  the  popular  will  and  secure  in  the  popular  affection,  gives 

no  pause  to  its  beneficent  progress  nor  relaxes  the  least  of  its  neces¬ 
sary  functions. 

Garfield — himself  destined  to  succeed  to  the  station  as  well  as  the 
martyrdom  of  Lincoln — upon  the  assassination  of  his  immortal 
predecessor,  gave  utterance  to  a  sentiment  as  significant  as  it  was 
eloquent :  “The  President  is  dead;  but,  thank  God,  the  Government 
at  Washington  still  lives.” 

This  consideration  by  no  means  implies  inadequate  appreciation 
of  the  illustrious  men  who  have  gone  from  among  us.  It  is  rather 
an  added  tribute  to  them  that  the  Government  had  received  no  detri¬ 
ment  at  their  hands,  but  had  been  so  strengthened  by  their  patriotic 
solicitude,  shared  by  the  great  average  of  their  fellow-citizens,  that 
it  was  made  capable  of  passing  unharmed  through  the  severest  crises. 

We  do  not  honor  Lincoln  less  because  when  his  unrivaled  author¬ 
ity  was  paralyzed  by  death  the  good  ship  of  state  under  other  con¬ 
trol  and  guided  by  Providence  passed  safely  through  the  perils  of 
the  time  into  the  serene  anchorage  of  restored  peace  and  prosperity. 
Grant,  the  greatest  hero  in  our  military  annals,  breathed  out  his 
life  amid  the  mountain  pines,  and  the  orderly  progress  of  the  great 
affairs  of  state,  over  which  he  had  so  faithfully  presided,  was  only 
temporarily  suspended  by  the  universality  of  public  and  private 
sorrow. 

Logan  has  gone  from  among  us  to  return  no  more.  Another  sits 
in  his  place.  The  burden  and  responsibilities  which  he  bore  so  well 
and  discharged  with  so  much  acceptance  have  fallen  upon  other 


62 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


shoulders.  The  Senate,  permanent  in  its  organization,  and  renewed 
from  time  to  time,  continues  its  round  of  duties,  sustained  against 
shock  and  disaster. 

Yet  Logan  will  not  be  forgotten.  No  individual,  no  association 
of  men  is  proof  against  the  salutary  teachings  of  example.  Others 
among  us  may  have  excelled  our  dead  friend  in  some  of  the  qualities 
which  are  combined  in  true  statesmanship,  but  who  will  deny  to  him 
those  rare  gifts  and  virtues  which  make  their  possessor  conspicuous 
anywhere  ? 

His  zeal  was  restless,  his  energy  intense,  his  industry  tireless,  his 
intellect  clear  and  incisive,  his  courage  unshaken  in  any  and  every 
circumstance,  his  loyalty  to  truth  and  duty  undoubted,  and  his  fidel¬ 
ity  to  friendships,  in  these  days  of  self-seeking,  almost  phenomenal. 
Always  impetuous,  sometimes  impatient  in  controversy,  his  nature 
was  ardent  without  rancor,  and  in  private  and  social  life  he  was  sunny 
and  persuasive. 

General  Logan’s  speech  was  vigorous  and  forceful.  He  subordi¬ 
nated  the  graces  of  rhetoric  to  the  logical  results  sought  to  be  com¬ 
passed.  The  pith  and  marrow  of  his  discourse  was  seldom  embellished 
by  fanciful  allusions  or  poetic  imagery.  His  weapons  of  debate  com¬ 
ported  with  his  rugged,  practical  nature,  and  challenged  the  judg¬ 
ment  rather  than  the  fancy  and  the  imagination.  Beyond  all  and 
above  all  his  candor  and  sincerity  were  so  evident  that  no  one  ven¬ 
tured  to  question  them. 

He  was  a  zealous  friend  and  a  sturdy  opponent.  His  blows  were 
delivered  in  honorable  fashion,  and  those  he  received  in  like  manly 
controversy  were  accepted  in  a  chivalrous  spirit. 

It  was  the  crowning  felicity  of  his  association  with  us  that,  as  the 
most  conspicuous  of  our  volunteer  soldiery  during  the  war  of  the 
rebellion,  he  became  the  special  champion  of  the  interests  of  not  only 
his  immediate  comrades  in  the  field,  but  of  all  who  had  helped  to  bear 
the  flag  of  the  Union  through  trials  and  discouragements  to  final 
victory.  With  what  fidelity  and  energy  this  sacred  trust  was  dis¬ 
charged  the  Senate  and  the  country  alike  bear  witness. 

It  is  given  to  but  few  to  so  happily  unite  in  their  own  experience 
heroic  martial  achievements  with  eminent  civic  successes.  Yet  he 
bore  his  accumulated  honors  mildly,  and  delighted  more  in  the  calm 
content  of  his  home  and  fireside  than  in  the  loud  acclaim  of  men.  It 
will  be  one  of  the  most  grateful  remembrances  of  him  who  has  gone 


63 


Address  of  Mr.  Evarts,  of  New  York. 

that  what  he  became  he  owed  to  his  own  exertions.  No  man  of  his 
time  more  strikingly  illustrated  the  beneficence  of  a  Government 
which,  looking  for  its  support  and  maintenance  to  people  of  all  con¬ 
ditions,  pursuits,  and  beliefs,  offers  its  honors  and  its  trusts  to  the 
competition  of  all. 

(  Logan  fought  his  own  way,  won  his  own  victories,  made  his  own 
fame  secure. 

Scrutinizing  the  list  of  those  who,  emerging  from  comparative 
obscurity,  have  contributed  the  noblest  service  to  the  Republic  and 
made  themselves  a  record  for  immortality,  the  name  of  Logan  will 
be  found  written  not  far  below  those  of  Lincoln  and  Grant. 


Address  of  Mr.  Evarts,  of  New  York. 

We  are  collected  here  to-day,  Mr.  President,  neither  to  bury  nor 
to  praise  the  soldier  and  Senator  whose  life,  in  its.  full  luster  and  at 
its  zenith,  was  so  lately  eclipsed  before  our  eyes  by  the  impenetrable 
veil  of  death.  Not  to  bury  him,  for  his  obsequies  have  been  cele¬ 
brated  with  all  the  observance  that  admiration  of  his  career,  applause 
for  his  conduct,  reverence  for  his  love  and  labors  for  his  country, 
and  affection  for  those  humble,  common  traits  that  affect,  as  with  a 
touch  of  kin,  all  who  love  the  character  in  the  home  which  this  our 
friend  manifested  in  all  his  life.  Not  to  praise  him,  for  we  do  not 
need  to  display,  and  we  have  no  power  to  enhance,  his  fame. 

It  is  that  we  and  the  communities  that  we  may  speak  for  are  to 
associate  ourselves  and  them,  in  this  hour,  to  recall  with  new  enforce¬ 
ment  his  relation  to  the  public  life  of  this  country,  the  benefits  that 
he  has  conferred,  and  the  power  he  is  yet  to  exert  over  them  in  the 
future. 

It  cannot,  I  believe,  be  doubted  that  at  every  stage  of  General 
Logan’s  life  he  was  a  capital  figure  in  his  own  share  of  public  power 
and  influence,  and  in  the  recognized  estimate  of  his  countrymen  of 
that  position. 

If  in  the  first  few  months  of  the  opening  struggle,  after  he  had 
taken  his  position  in  animating,  arousing,  confirming  the  movement 
of  this  people  to  sustain  the  Government,  if  in  the  first  battle  a  bul¬ 
let  had  ended  his  life,. Logan  would  have  been  a  capital  figure  in  the 
memory  of  that  great  scene  and  on  that  great  theater.  If  in  his 


<64  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

military  career,  commemorated  and  insisted  upon  so  well,  at  any 
pause  in  his  advance  he  had  fallen  in  this  battle  or  that  battle,  he 
would  have  been  a  capital  figure  in  that  scene  and  on  that  theater. 
And  if  at  the  end  of  the  war,  when  the  roll  was  made  up  of  the 
heroes,  and  he  then  had  not  moved  before  this  great  people  in  any 
.subsequent  career,  the  angel  of  death  had  then  taken  away  his  life, 
lie  would  have  been  a  capital  figure  in  the  whole  glory  of  that  war. 

And,  Mr.  President,  in  the  great  civic  labors  and  dangers  that  at¬ 
tended  the  rearrangement  of  our  political  and  social  condition  in  this 
■country,  consequent  upon  the  war,  if  that  share  and  if  that  part  of 
his  career  had  been  the  only  one  to  be  commemorated,  he  would  have 
been  a  capital  figure  in  that.  But  when  these  strifes  were  composed 
-and  the  country  was  knit  together  in  allegiance  and  loyalty  to  the 
Government  he  loved  and  served,  he  thenceforward  in  this  Chamber 
had  presented  for  the  record  of  his  life  only  what  should  have  been 
manifested  and  known  and  observed  here,  he  would  have  been  a 
capital  figure  in  that  single  scene  and  theater. 

We  therefore  must  agree  in  what  in  his  lifetime  and  so  recently 
now  after  his  death  meets  a  universal  concurrence,  that  he  was  of  the 
citizen  soldiers  of  this  great  nation  the  greatest,  and  that  of  that 
class  of  citizen  soldiers  that  were  numbered  among  statesmen  he  was 
the  greatest  of  statesmen,  and  we  must  confess  that  on  this  larger 
.area  he  still  remains  a  capital  figure  which  could  be  missed  from  no 
.narrative  of  the  story  of  his  life. 

Mr.  President,  it  has  been  said  by  a  profound  political  philosopher, 
-applied  to  a  condition  of  political  life  not  far  different  from  our  own, 
that  by  whatever  path  great  places  are  to  be  gained  in  public  life  in 
the  opinion  and  support  of  the  community,  that  path  will  be  trod. 
If  it  be  an  honorable  path,  if  it  be  of  uprightness  and  openness  and 
straightforwardness  of  conduct  and  of  character  that  these  high 
places  are  to  be  gained,  then  that  path  will  be  trod.  And  what  bet¬ 
ter  encomium  upon  his  own  path,  what  more  creditable  to  our  people’s 
estimate  and  their  own  approval  upon  this  or  that  path  in  public 
life,  than  that  General  Logan  by  the  path  that  he  pursued,  never  in 
ambush,  never  in  devious  paths,  never  agitated  about  his  own  repu¬ 
tation,  and  never  defaming  that  of  others,  led  on  in  a  path  that 
brought  him  up  to  the  highest  distinction  and  has  left  him  this  cap¬ 
ital  figure  in  the  memory  of  all  his  countrymen. 

In  every  form  of  popular  influence  on  the  largest  scale,  near  to  the 


Address  of  Mr.  Sabin,  of  Minnesota. 


65 


topmost  of  the  culminating  crown  of  a  people’s  glory  to  the  fame  of 
one  of  their  citizens,  he  was  before  us  in  the  most  recent  contest  for 
the  Presidency.  He,  at  the  moment  that  he  died,  was  held,  in  the 
judgment  of  his  countrymen,  among  the  very  foremost  for  the  future 
contest.  And  this  illustration  of  his  distinction  knows  no  detraction, 
no  disparagement,  no  flaw  touching  the  yery  heart  and  manhood  of 
his  life  and  character. 

Let  us,  then,  applaud  our  people  and  applaud  this  great  character 
as  being  a  just  answer  to  much  of  the  contumely  and  opprobrium 
that  is  aimed  at  the  public  life  of  this  country.  I  can  find  no  capital 
figure  in  the  politics  of  other  nations  that  more  plainly  shows  that 
this  is  a  path  of  honor,  and  in  the  sunlight,  that  arrives  at  the  final 
glory  of  its  consummation. 

Mr.  President,  for  some  imperfection  of  our  nature,  which  we  can¬ 
not  lay  aside,  it  is  said  that  the  fullness  of  the  heart  and  of  admira¬ 
tion  cannot  wholly  show  itself, 

Till  the  sacred  dust  of  death  is  shed 
On  each  dear  and  reverend  head, 

Nor  love  the  living  as  we  love  the  dead. 

If  it  be  so,  nevertheless  it  is  a  part  of  our  nature  that  when  thus 
liberated  from  the  threat  and  fear  and  competition  of  the  living, 
nevertheless  after  this  obscuration  is  removed,  it  is  an  honest  and 
not  a  vague  and  extravagant  judgment  that  gives  due  prominence  to 
the  life  and  character  and  removes  the  shade. 

Mr.  President,  the  looms  of  time  are  never  idle,  and  the  busy 
fingers  of  the  fates  are  ever  weaving,  as  in  a  tapestry,  the  many 
threads  and  colors  that  make  up  our  several  lives,  and  when  these 
are  exposed  to  critics  and  to  admirers  there  shall  be  found  few  of 
brighter  colors  or  of  nobler  pattern  than  this  life  of  General  Logan. 


Address  of  Mr.  Sabin,  of  Minnesota. 

Mr.  President  :  The  melancholy  event  which  engages  the  atten. 
tion  of  the  Senate  on  this  occasion  accords  with  the  course  of  nature, 
and  must  in  due  time  overtake  us  all. 

While  no  man  may  hope  successfully  to  contend  against  like  con¬ 
sequence,  our  interest  therein  but  increases  as  we  near  it. 

This  interest,  however,  as  it  concerns  another,  is  chiefly  retro¬ 
spective. 

5  L 


66  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

The  death  of  one  having  occupied  so  important  a  place  in  the 
service  and  affections  of  the  public  as  General  Logan  naturally 
leads  to  a  survey  of  his  life,  and  an  inquiry  into  those  personal  qual¬ 
ities  that  molded  his  being  into  whatever  fullness  and  roundness  of 
outline  it  possessed.  And  I  am  pleased  to  find  so  many  members  of 
this  body  qualified  with  familiarity  with  General  Logan’s  public  and 
private  life,  and  knowledge  of  the  mainsprings  of  his  conduct,  who 
are  ready  to  venture  into  this  field  of  inquiry  with  a  spirit  of  generous 
consideration  to  which  his  memory  is  conspicuously  entitled. 

Hence,  I  approach  with  great  diffidence  so  delicate  a  task,  offering 
as  my  only  excuse  my  personal  admiration,  esteem,  and  love  for  one 
of  the  best  of  men  and  noblest  of  characters.  I  shall,  therefore,  at¬ 
tempt  to  treat  the  subject  more  from  a  personal  standpoint  and  my 
own  impressions  and  experiences. 

The  personal  and  public  history  of  General  Logan  is  of  that 
marked  character,  and  so  far-reaching  in  its  proportions,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  encompass  it  within  the  tribute  which  the  present  oc¬ 
casion  permits.  I  leave  especially  the  history  of  his  marked  and 
brilliant  military  career,  his  devotion,  services,  and  friendships  to 
his  comrades  in  arms  during  and  since  the  war,  to  those  who  were 
with  him  in  service  during  that  long  and  sanguinary  struggle,  and 
who  know  so  well  how  to  speak  of  his  labors  and  his  victories. 

To  follow  the  career  of  a  life  having  within  its  bounds  such  a 
range  of  developments,  and  marked  by  so  many  acts  which  stand 
out  in  bold  relief  upon  the  panorama  of  our  national  progress, 
would  require  a  latitude  embracing  space  and  time  only  to  be  cov¬ 
ered  through  the  compilation  of  volumes. 

This  session  of  the  Senate  has  been  dedicated  to  the  offering  of  a 
tribute  to  him  who  but  recently  sat  with  us  in  council,  and  who,  it 
is  entirely  within  the  limits  of  moderation  to  say,  has  left  a  stamp 
upon  the  public  affairs  of  our  country  during  the  period  of  his  life 
which  time  will  not  efface  while  the  Republic  endures.  The  name 
of  General  John  A.  Logan  is  at  once  a  glory  to  the  American  peo¬ 
ple  and  a  natural  heritage  to  future  generations.  He  was  a  Colossus 
among  the  giants  of  American  history.  The  impress  of  his  individ¬ 
uality  and  genius  must  remain  upon  the  institutions  for  the  perpe¬ 
tuity  and  perfecting  of  which  the  lives  of  Washington,  of  Hamilton, 
of  Jefferson,  of  Sumner,  of  Lincoln,  and  of  Grant  were  dedicated. 

Long  before  I  had  personal  acquaintance  with  General  Logan  his 


Address  of  Mr.  Sabin,  of  Minnesota. 


67 


name  and  fame  had  become  an  object  of  interest  and  pride  to  me  in 
common  with  all  other  American  citizens. 

I  think  it  was  General  Logan’s  attitude  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
rebellion  that  first  directed  the  attention  of  the  public  to  him.  A 
Douglas  Democrat,  he  shared  the  confidence  of  that  great  leader. 

During  the  troublesome  period  intervening  the  first  victory  of  the 
Republican  party  in  the  election  of  Lincoln  and  the  bombardment  of 
Sumter,  Logan  found  his  path  of  duty  in  companionship  with  life¬ 
long  political  associates,  struggling  in  the  fruitless  endeavor  to  resist 
one  of  the  greatest  evolutionary  movements  of  a  people  of  which 
history  speaks — a  movement  characterized  by  those  who  participated 
therein  in  terms  appropriate  to  mere  civil  strife,  but  which,  in  secur¬ 
ing  for  us  a  more  perfect  Union,  may  be  discovered  at  this  day  to 
have  been  an  evolutionary  development  of  the  Constitution. 

In  those  days  the  mists  which  lowered  in  the  political  sky  obscured 
the  vision  of  our  wisest  men.  But  the  fall  of  Sumter,  like  a  fog¬ 
horn  at  sea,  determined  the  course  of  Logan.  For  him  party 
machinery  had  been  a  means  of  directing  the  united  efforts  of  citi¬ 
zens  sharing  the  same  views  of  public  polity.  To  divert  the  mech¬ 
anism  to  other  purposes  was  to  release  him  from  party  fealty.  The 
Union  was  to  him  the  paramount  good,  and  party  but  a  means  of 
accomplishing  it. 

That  great  chieftain,  with  palsied  speech,  and  death  seeking  to 
arrest  his  hand,  determinedly  wrote  the  imperishable  “  memoirs,” 
and  deliberately  recorded  the  first  results  of  General  Logan’s  exam¬ 
ple  upon  the  people  of  Southern  Illinois.  “As  a  result  of  Logan’s 
speech  at  Springfield,”  writes  General  Grant,  “every  man  enlisted 
for  the  war.”  What  a  glorious  tribute  did  that  great  man  thus 
render  to  the  noble  character  whose  memory  we  honor  to-day. 

Loyalty  to  the  Union  left  Logan  no  alternative,  and  he  accepted 
it  with  a  resoluteness  of  purpose  not  afterward  shaken. 

Logan’s  life-current  flowed  a  steady,  strong  stream;  and  once 
directed '  against  the  forces  of  disunion,  nothing  could  satisfy  his 
ambitious  courage  but  the  heat  and  labor  of  the  day  in  the  forefront 
of  the  battle.  Here,  to  the  fullness  of  every  patriot’s  hope,  Logan 
served  his  country.  Here,  amid  all  the  horrors  of  four  long  years  of 
civil  strife,  Logan’s  character  received  those  deep  impressions  which 
so  intensified  his  subsequent  utterances  and  lent  vehemence  to  much 
of  his  after  life. 


(38  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

Comradeship  in  the  perils  of  battle  was  ever  to  him  an  all-sufficient 
claim  upon  his  utmost  service,  and  the  genius  of  our  institutions  so 
molded  his  conduct  toward  all  classes  of  people  that  his  sympathy, 
with  an  appreciative  comprehension  of  their  situation  and  wants, 
secured  for  him  their  utmost  confidence  and  esteem  as  a  tribute  of 
the  people. 

Logan’s  opportunity  for  serving  his  country  was  not  closed  at 
Appomattox. 

The  restoration  of  the  reign  of  law  in  those  regions  long  domi¬ 
nated  by  the  force  of  arms,  the  readjustment  o£  those  communities 
in  their  relations  as  members  of  the  Union,  the  formulation  of  legal 
enactments  demanded  by  the  elevation  of  the  black  man  into  the 
light  and  liberty  of  American  citizenship,  the  whole  scheme  of 
national  restoration  and  civil  rehabilitation  known  as  “the  period 
of  reconstruction,”  called  for  ability  equal  in  importance  to  the 
demands  of  civil  strife.  In  this  new  field  was  General  Logan  found 
the  constant,  effective,  and  honored  representative  of  the  people,  and 
the  sturdy  champion  of  the  most  effective  measures  calculated  to 
secure  for  the  entire  country  the  benefits  of  a  restored  Union. 

For  over  twenty  years  the  untiring  industry  and  the  genius  of  Gen¬ 
eral  Logan  as  a  statesman  is  recorded  on  almost  every  page  of  the 
records  of  the  House  of  Representatives  or  of  this  Senate;  and  it  is 
a  fact  perhaps  not  generally  known  that  General  Logan  originated 
and  introduced  more  public  measures  than  any  other  member;  and 
we,  his  colleagues  upon  this  floor,  are  familiar  with  that  record, 
which  is  destined  to  grow  brighter  and  more  legible  with  the  lapse 
of  time. 

Such  was  the  openness  and  simplicity  of  his  character,  and  the 
candor  of  his  demeanor,  that  those  differing  most  from  him  in  con¬ 
viction  were  the  first  to  yield  him  that  respect  and  regard  due  and 
given  only  to  real  nobility  of  character. 

Logan’s  character  presents  three  distinct  aspects — that  which 
relates  to  his  career  and  services  as  a  soldier,  that  which  considers 
his  eminent  ability  and  services  as  a  statesman,  and  that  which  per¬ 
tains  to  his  whole  career,  from  the  growth  of  the  boy  to  the  lamented 
death  of  an  honored  man.  It  is  presented  not  only  to  the  people  of 
America  but  to  the  whole  civilized  people  as  a  bright  example  to  be 
held  up  to  the  illumination  as  well  as  emulation  of  every  youth 
beginning  his  struggle  with  the  world. 


69 


Address  of  Mr.  Sabin,  of  Minnesota. 

But  who  shall  be  able  to  do  justice  within  the  limits  of  a  few  min¬ 
utes’  eulogium  to  the  brilliant  record  of  a  soldier  who  abandoned  re¬ 
lations  of  family,  kindred,  and  friends,  of  party  popularity,  array¬ 
ing  bitter  hostilities  to  himself,  and  throws  his  whole  energy  with  all 
the  power  of  his  vigorous  young  manhood  and  enthusiasm  against 
the  armed  enemy  of  his  country.  During  the  storm  of  misrepre¬ 
sentation  which  always  assails  a  man  of  such  marked  character,  the 
sublime  heroism  of  General  Logan’s  first  act  in  that  dreadful  ordeal 
through  which  our  country  passed,  has  not  yet  received  that  appre¬ 
ciation  which  time  and  a  considerate  people  will  give  it. 

The  popular  idol  of  his  party  in  a  State  of  suprenie  importance 
during  that  crisis  to  the  Union  cause,  recently  elected  after  conduct¬ 
ing  a  brilliant  campaign  by  a  large  majority  over  his  party  oppo¬ 
nent,  with  youth  and  strength,  rare  intellectual  endowment  as  his 
heritage,  let  it  be  considered  for  a  single  moment  what  would  have 
been  the  consequence  if  he  with  all  his  power  and  enthusiastic  fol¬ 
lowing  had  clung  to  the  party  of  disunion.  No  man  at  this  day  can 
do  more  than  form  a  conjecture  of  the  terrible  disaster  which  might 
have  followed  such  an  event. 

Happily  for  the  American  Union,  no  such  contingency  was  possi¬ 
ble  in  the  character  of  General  Logan.  In  elevating  him  to  honor 
and  power  the  constituency  then  at  his  back  had  “sowed  better  than 
they  knew.”  With  a  rare  self-abnegation  and  devotion  to  his  coun¬ 
try,  he  resigned  political  position,  and  offered  his  services  as  a  sol¬ 
dier,  in  any  rank,  to  his  imperiled  Government.  Thousands  upon 
thousands  rushed  to  the  defense  in  that  hour  of  national  danger, 
and  every  honor  is  due  them  all.  While  the  brilliant  military  genius 
of  General  Logan,  confessedly  the  greatest  volunteer  soldier  of  his 
or  any  other  time,  served  his  country  with  patriotic  force  upon  the 
field  of  battle,  yet  the  influence  of  his  example  in  its  effects  upon  an 
element  which  he  undoubtedly  turned  from  service  against  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  seems,  viewed  from  a  dispassionate  standpoint  of  subse¬ 
quent  developments,  almost  like  a  miraculous  interposition  in  the 
affairs  of  men. 

Others  upon  this  floor  have  touched  in  flowery  words  and  beauti¬ 
ful  phrases  upon  these  portions  of  our  departed  colleague’s  career, 
and  I  will  only  add  the  brief  and  feeling  tribute  of  another  to  his 
military  genius  : 

Closing  liis  career  as  a  solder  at  the  end  of  the  war  in  command  of  that  army 
he  loved  so  well,  g,nd  whose  devotion  to  him  was  so  enthusiastic  and  unparalleled, 


70 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


in  the  temple  of  fame,  in  the  great  galaxy  of  heroes,  pure  and  bright  as  the  sun, 
firm  and  solid  as  the  foundation  of  freedom,  will  John  A.  Logan  forever  stand. 
A  soldier  of  transcendent  military  genius,  a  fearless,  skillful,  and  accomplished 
leader,  a  peer  among  the  commanders  of  armies,  his  name  will  go  down  to  history 
the  synonym  of  purity,  loyalty,  and  patriotism. 

Let  me  in  brief  terms  refer  to  those  traits  of  character  which  must 
ever  be  held  as  shining  examples  to  the  youth  of  the  land. 

General  Logan  was  born  and  reared  under  adverse  circumstances 
of  an  early  Western  frontier  life.  In  his  day  there  was  none  of  the 
educational  advantages  possessed  by  the  youth  of  the  present  time. 
Born  in  a  cabin,  his  youth  was  passed  in  the  hard  labors  of  farm 
life.  The  few  months  of  winters’  schooling  were  assiduously  utilized 
by  the  boy  whom  nature  had  marked  for  a  brilliant  future.  But  the 
ambitious  youth  was  not  content  with  these  meager  advantages. 
After  the  toils  of  the  day  were  over  and  when  the  youths  of  his  age 
were  enjoying  the  pleasures  of  a  social  country  existence  young 
Logan  was  poring  over  books  in  his  father’s  cabin  and  drawing 
from  the  fountain  of  knowledge  by  the  aid  of  a  tallow  dip  and  blaz¬ 
ing  fire  in  the  old-fashioned  log  fire-place. 

Less  than  a  half  century  ago  the  man  whose  loss  is  now  mourned 
by  the  millions  of  America’s  freemen  might  be  seen  as  a  boy  lying 
on  the  floor  of  his  father’s  cabin,  illuminated  only  by  a  flickering 
light,  eagerly  scanning  his  books  in  his  thirst  for  knowledge,  and 
intent  upon  an  education  which  fitted  him  for  that  career  he  after¬ 
wards  achieved.  No  more  interesting  picture  can  be  placed  before 
the  youths  of  America  than  that  which  is  thus  presented  by  the  am¬ 
bitions  genius,  asserting  itself  and  achieving  its  destiny  through 
adverse  conditions  and  surroundings. 

Fixing  a  standard  of  excellence  high  in  the  ideas  of  men,  our  dead 
colleague  sought  to  reach  the  stars  through  almost  insurmountable 
difficulties.  Through  a  long  and  useful  life  he  maintained  principles 
which  he  had  cultivated  in  youth  ;  and  amid  all  the  brilliancy  of  his 
service  in  field  and  forum  he  left  an  untainted  and  unstained  private 
and  public  character. 

What  an  eulogy  is  this  brief  and  simple  announcement  !  A  man 
enjoying  unlimited  opportunities  that  place  and  power  conferred 
upon  those  of  such  strength  of  leadership,  moving  through  an  orbit 
of  public  functions  for  a  whole  generation,  resisting  the  blandish¬ 
ments  of  wealth,  faithfully  serving  his  country,  and  in  the  end  sink¬ 
ing  to  his  rest  poor  in  purse,  though  enormously  rich  in  all  of  the 


Address  of  Mr.  Sabin,  of  Minnesota. 


71 


virtues  which  ennoble  humanity ;  indeed,  this  is  a  spectacle  which 
must  claim  the  admiration  of  the  pure  and  the  good.  General  Logan 
was  a  pure  man  and  a  good  man. 

A  Christian  gentleman,  a  man  of  temperate,  simple,  and  frugal 
habits,  his  private  life  was  spotless.  No  man  living  ever  dared  to 
approach  him  with  a  corrupt  proposal. 

It  was  indeed  fitting  that  such  qualities  should  have  led  the  Repub¬ 
lican  party  to  honor  itself  by  honoring  him  with  the  nomination  of 
Vice-President,  a  nomination  that  added  great  strength  to  the  ticket, 
and  will  ever  be  regarded  as  a  wise  and  considerate  act. 

It  is  a  common  observation  that  General  Logan  was  an  ardent 
partisan.  If  by  that  expression  is  meant  that  he  ardently  devoted 
himself  to  the  success  of  his  party,  it  is  doubtless  true ;  hut  he  was 
not  a  blind  partisan.  That  he  looked  to  his  duty  to  the  country, 
sufficiently  appears  from  his  whole  public  life.  Such  partisanship 
represents  the  high  pride  of  American  citizenship,  and  by  it  Logan 
has  been  raised  to  an  exalted  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  It  is 
an  open  secret,  but  not  a  matter  of  public  history,  and  therefore  not 
generally  known,  that  General  Logan  left  his  command  in  the  field 
at  the  request  of  President  Lincoln  to  bear  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
political  campaigns  during  the  darkest  days  of  our  Republic.  In  the 
light  of  these  accusations  of  partisanship,  let  me  ask  you  to  observe 
carefully  his  generous  and  kindly  sentiments  in  the  eloquent  appeal 
to  his  fellow-citizens  in  that  famous  speech  at  Chicago  in  1863  : 

Under  circumstances  of  this  character,  and  surrounded  by  the  perils  that  have 
heretofore  been  strangers  to  us,  it  behooves  every  citizen  to  pause  and  reflect ;  to 
divest  himself  of  all  manner  of  prejudices,  and  to  ask  himself  without  regard  to 
former  party  associations  what  duty  he  owes  to  himself,  to  his  country,  and  to 
future  generations.  It  makes  no  difference  that  you  may  have  been  a  Democrat,  a 
Republican,  or  an  Abolitionist,  this  Government  was  established  by  your  fathers 
for  you  ;  it  is  a  sacred  trust  committed  to  you ;  the  laws  have  been  enacted  by  the 
people  for  themselves  and  their  protection,  and  no  one  can  escape  the  duty  he  owes 
to  the  Government  to  reverence  its  Constitution,  to  yield  a  respectful  obedience  to 
its  laws.  *  *  * 

May  our  untarnished  escutcheon  kiss  every  breeze  that  is  wafted  from  the  balmy 
waters  of  the  South  to  the  frozen  regions  of  the  North,  or  that  comes  from  the 
golden  plains  of  the  far  West  to  mingle  witli  those  in  the  East.  May  it  be  unfurled 
in  honor  and  pride  upon  every  ocean  where  civilization  has  penetrated,  and  stand 
side  by  side  with  the  banners  of  the  proudest  empires  of  the  earth. 

An  inscrutable  Providence  has  removed  a  great  and  good  man,  and 
tlie  memories  which  cluster  about  his  name  as  a  member  of  this  body 
are  so  fresh  and  personal  that  we  can  scarcely  realize  the  great  loss 


72 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


which  this  Senate  and  country  have  sustained;  but  his  useful  life  and 
shining  example  are  left  to  guide  the  feet  of  coming  generations. 

His  form  we  shall  see  no  more,  but  his  work  and  his  character  are 

* 

'  ours  forever ;  the  body  is  dead,  but  the  spirit  lives — 

For  there  is  no  death  ;  the  stars  go  down 
To  shine  on  a  fairer  shore, 

And  bright  in  heaven’s  jeweled  crown 
They  shine  forever  more. 

More  fitting  words  cannot  be  said  of  our  dear  friend  and  lamented 
associate  than  his  own  touching  and  eloquent  tribute  to  the  memory 
of  the  immortal  Lincoln  : 

Yes,  his  sun  has  set  forever  ;  loyalty’s  gentle  voice  can  no  longer  wake  thrills  of 
joy  along  the  tuneless  chords  of  his  moldering  heart ;  yet  patriots  and  lovers  of 
liberty  who  still  linger  on  the  shores  of  time  rise  and  bless  his  memory ;  and  millions 
yet  unborn  will  in  after  times  rise  to  deplore  his  death  and  cherish  as  a  household 
word  his  deathless  name. 


Address  of  Mr.  Palmer,  of  Michigan. 

Mr.  President  :  When  the  news  reached  me  many  thousand  miles 
from  here  that  General  Logan  was  dead,  I  felt  that  something  more 
than  a  great  man  had  passed  away.  I  felt  that  a  great  impelling 
force — a  bulwark  whose  resistance  had  been  never  overcome — a  co¬ 
hesive  power  which  bound  together  many  atoms  which  otherwise 
would  have  been  unrelated — had  been  eclipsed. 

Among  the  many  prominent  characters  that  have  come  before  the 
public  gaze  in  the  last  twenty-five  years  he  can  be  assigned  to  no 
secondary  place.  Born  in  the  then  far  W est,  where  advantages  were 
few,  he  had  developed  from  within.  He  had  evolved  what  was  in¬ 
volved.  All  that  he  appeared  to  be  he  was.  His  nature  could  not 
tolerate  meretricious  aids  if  proffered.  If  he  had  been  caught  in  the 
eddies  and  cyclones  of  the  French  Revolution  he  would  have  been 
Danton’s  coadjutor,  if  not  Danton  himself ;  Danton  the  furious,  the 
generous,  the  unrestrainable,  the  untamed.  His  motto  would  have 
been  as  was  that  of  his  prototype,  to  dare,  and  by  that  sign  he  would 
have  saved  his  country  if  human  power  could  have  availed.  Placed 
in  another  environment,  inspired  by  other  traditions,  his  daring  was 
none  the  less  conspicuous,  and  lie  was  none  the  less  a  factor  in  that 
memorable  conflict  which  unified  his  native  land. 


73 


Address  of  Mr.  Palmer,  of  Michigan. 

Born  in  Switzerland  lie  would  liave  been  a  Winkelried  or  an  Hofer, 
bad  the  exigencies  of  tbe  times  demanded. 

If  there  is  to  be  a  type  of  the  Caucasian  race  to  be  known  distinct¬ 
ively  as  the  American,  it  will  have  as  its  substructure  spiritually  the 

pronounced  traits  which  have  made  the  name  of  Logan  famous _ 

directness  of  aim,  intrepidity  of  spirit,  honesty  of  purpose,  generos¬ 
ity  for  the  vanquished,  tenderness  for  the  weak,  and  catholicity  of 
feeling  for  all.  Some  of  these  qualities  were  at  times  obscured  in 
him  because  of  the  intensity  of  his  nature,  which  subordinated  all 
things  to  the  demands  of  the  time  and  occasion. 

He  detested  pretense.  He  denuded  shams.  He  projected  himself 
with  such  force  that  to  me  he  seemed  to  have  the  dual  nature  of  the 
catapult  and  the  missile  which  it  throws. 

Others  have  spoken  of  his  military  career,  of  how  he  learned  tac- 
ics  and  the  manual  at  the  cannon’s  mouth,  of  his  legislative  career 
with  all  the  honor  that  attaches  thereto ;  all  this  has  become  history. 
He  enjoys  the  proud  distinction  not  only  of  'military  leadership, 
which  he  achieved  in  common  with  others,  but  of  that  of  a  leader 
and  controller  of  the  minds  of  men. 

The  spirit,  the  lire,  the  intensity,  the  insight,  the  fortitude  which 
made  him  effective  at  the  head  of  his  legions  were  none  the  less 
potent  when  the  sword  was  turned  into  the  pruning-hook  and  mate¬ 
rial  force  had  been  supplanted  by  legislative  methods. 

My  acquaintance  with  General  Logan  was  confined  to  the  last 
three  years  of  his  life,  but  I  had  known  him  ever  since  that  fateful 
day  when  with  his  leader  he  was  about  to  move  on  the  enemy’s  works 
at  Donelson.  I  had  watched  him  at  Vicksburg — on  the  march  to 
Atlanta.  I  had  followed  him  to  the  field,  when,  recovering  from  his 
wounds,  he  met  his  corps  as  it  struck  the  sea  on  that  dramatic  march 
which  captured  the  minds  of  men  by  the  mystery  which  hung  over 
it,  the  uncertainty  of  its  outcome,  the  brilliancy  of  its  execution, 
and  the  plenitude  of  its  results.  I  heard  of  him  again  in  the  Senate. 
I  saw  him  in  defeat  and  always  without  variableness  or  shadow 
of  turning.  His  face  as  a  subaltern  was  as  firmly  fixed  on  the  objec¬ 
tive  point  as  if  he  had  been  in  command.  He  was  no  Achilles, 
furious  in  action,  who  could  permit  his  bosom  friend  and  thousands 
of  his  fellows  to  perish  that  he  in  his  tent  might  nurse  and  enjoy  his 
wrath. 


74 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


He  was  a  partisan  ;  but  lie  was  a  partisan  because  he  was  a  patriot. 
He  did  not  “  narrow  his  mind  and  give  up  to  party  what  was  meant 
for  mankind/’  but  he  stuck  to  his  party  because  it  was  good  his 
sword  Excalibar,  with  which  he  hoped  to  hew  down  giant  wrongs  and 
to  accomplish  great  results  for  his  fellow-man. 

He  was  direct ;  with  the  eye  of  a  soldier,  and  not  through  the 
lens  of  the  schoolman,  he  saw  the  weak  spot  in  the  enemy’s  line 
and  threw  all  he  had  and  all  he  hoped  for  upon  the  salient  point. 
His  purpose  did  not  “lose  the  name  of  action”  by  collateral  issues. 
The  side-tracks  which  divert  or  distract  the  philosophic  or  the  less 
earnest  might  as  well  have  not  existed  as  far  as  their  effect  on  him 
was  concerned. 

He  was  honest — not  in  the  vulgar  sense  that  he  was  nnpurchasable 
with  money — that  goes  without  saying — but  he  had  fixed  views  of 
right  and  wrong,  and  before  the  tribunal  of  his  conscience  he  deter¬ 
mined  his  course  where  the  ways  divided. 

He  was  intrepid  ;  his  temper,  iron-like,  grew  by  blows,  and  in  de¬ 
bate,  as  in  the  field,  opposing  forces  stimulated  and  sustained. 

He  was  generous  ;  and  although  at  times  his  indignation  at  real 
or  supposed  wrongs  spurred  him  to  extremity,  I  never  knew  him 
to  treasure  up  a  hatred. 

I  was  thrown  with  him  during  the  last  Presidential  contest  for  a 
season  in  my  own  State.  The  canvass  was  bitter  and  exhausting. 
His  capacity  for  work  then  illustrated  was  marvelous.  The  methods 
by  which  he  reached  the  hearts  of  the  people  were  spontaneous, 
subtle,  and  effective.  His  progress  was  an  ovation.  He  never  ap¬ 
peared  without  evoking  the  most  rapturous  applause,  and  he  never 
disappointed  expectation.  He  carried  about  him  an  atmosphere 
that  attracted  and  cemented  men  to  him.  The  secret  was  he  was 
en  rapport  with  the  heart  of  humanity.  No  man  so  low  but  felt 
he  was  a  brother,  no  man  so  high  but  felt  he  was  his  peer. 

In  the  Senate  he  united  the  valor  of  the  soldier  and  the  temper  of 
the  legislator  to  the  tenderness  of  the  child  with  its  quick  resent¬ 
ments  quickly  set  aside. 

The  last  time  I  saw  my  friend  he  was  at  the  head  of  a  cavalcade  at 
one  of  the  fairs  of  our  country.  He  had  been  impressed  for  the  oc¬ 
casion  and  compelled  to  serve.  He  was  the  cynosure  of  all  eyes. 
The  men  cheered,  the  women  waved  their  handkerchiefs,  and  the 
children  loaded  him  with  flowers.  It  was  as  much  a  triumphal 


Address  of  Mr.  Palmer,  of  Michigan.  75 

march  as  ever  went  up  the  sacred  way  with  captives  from  remotest 
Gaul. 

But  one  short  year  ago  he  helped  to  lay  away  his  leader  and  friend 
in  his  narrow  cell  mid  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  which  people 
love  to  lavish  on  their  heroic  dead.  Summoned  by  the  same  bugle- 
call  to  duty  upon  earth— the  trumpet  that  shall  call  the  one  to  re¬ 
newed  effort  in  the  great  hereafter  will  rouse  the  other  to  share  his 
labors,  his  joys,  and  his  triumphs.  He  has  fought  the  good  fight ; 
he  has  finished  his  course. 

If  in  another  age,  under  other  conditions,  he  had  died,  like  Danton, 
on  a  scaffold  raised  by  those  whom  he  had  helped  to  save,  he  would 
have  said,  as  Danton  said  to  his  friend  when  the  mob  were  howling 
for  his  blood,  “  Heed  not  that  vile  canaille,  my  friend  ”  ;  and  again, 
as  he  stepped  upon  the  scaffold,  “O  my  wife,  my  well  beloved”; 
and  I  believe  the  historian  would  have  said  of  him,  as  of  Danton, 

“  Ho  hollow  formalist,  deceptive  and  self-deceptive,  ghastly  to  the 
natural  sense,  was  this  ;  but  a  very  man — with  all  his  dross  he  was 
a  man,  fiery  real  from  the  great  fire  bosom  of  nature  herself.” 

If,  like  Sidney,  wounded  and  dying,  he  had  lain  upon  the  battle¬ 
field  he  would  have  been  equal  to  the  re-enactment  of  the  story  which 
has  made  Sidney’s  name  a  sweet  savor  unto  Christendom. 

But  Providence  had  reserved  him  for  a  kindlier  fate.  The  hand 
of  affection  cooled  his  brow,  and  his  eye  had  lost  its  speculation  and 
the  ear  its  sensibility  before  the  tears  and  moans  of  those  he  loved 
attested  that  the  strong  man  had  at  last  met  a  power  that  was 
silently,  speedily,  surely  bearing  him  to  the  dark  house  and  the 
long  sleep. 

Amid  the  many  heroic  figures  which  stand  out  on  the  luminous 
background  of  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  none  will  be  regarded 
with  more  affection  and  interest  than  that  sturdy  and  intrepid  form 
portrayed  in  silhouette,  clear  cut  and  pronounced  in  its  outlines  as 
in  its  mental  traits. 

Happy  the  State  which  has  borne  such  a  citizen.  Thrice  happy 
the  people  who,  appreciating  his  virtues,  shall  give  him  a  place  in 
the  Valhalla  of  her  heroes  for  the  encouragement  and  inspiration  of  . 
the  youth  of  the  future. 


76 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Address  of  Mr.  Farwell,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  President  :  After  the  many  eloquent  words  which  have  been 
said  upon  this  mournful  occasion,  I  feel  that  any  word  which  I  could 
say  would  be  idle  and  .vain. 

General  Logan  was  the  bravest  of  soldiers,  an  able  statesman,  and 
an  honest  man. 

No  higher  tribute  can  be  paid  to  man  than  this,  and  this  is  the 
offering  which  I  bring.  The  late  President  of  the  United  States, 
General  Grant,  said  to  me  that  General  Logan’s  great  services  to 
his  country  should  never  be  forgotten.  In  battle  always  brave,  never 
faltering,  always  ready. 

He  is  greatest  who  serves  his  country  best.  And  shall  we  not  class 
him  as  one  of  these  ? 

Mr.  President,  I  second  the  resolutions  of  my  colleague. 

The  President  pro  tempore.  The  question  is  on  the  adoption  of 
the  resolutions. 

The  resolutions  were  agreed  to  unanimously. 

Mr.  Cullom.  I  move,  as  a  further  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory 
of  General  Logan,  that  the  Senate  do  now  adjourn. 

The  motion  was  agreed  to;  and  (at  4  o’clock  and  2  minutes  p.  m.) 
the  Senate  adjourned  until  to-morrow,  Thursday,  February  10,  at  12 
o’clock  m. 


PROCEEDINGS  IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRE¬ 
SENTATIVES.- 

Wednesday,  February  16,  1887. 


The  House  met  at  12  o’clock  m.  Prayer  by  the  Chaplain,  Rev. 
W.  H.  Milburn,  D.  D.,  as  follows  r 

Almighty  God,  as  the  Members  of  this  House  have  now  gathered 
to  pay  the  last  tribute  of  respect  and  affection  to  the  memory  of  a 
man  who  for  so  many  years  filled  a  large  place  in  the  public  eye  both 
in  the  field  and  in  the  Senate,  and  wrought  with  such  indomitable 
energy  and  courage,  whose  hand  was  ever  unstained  by  pelf,  we  pray 
Thee  to  impress  upon  us  all  the  shortness  and  uncertainty  of  human 
life,  and  the  fleeting  nature  of  earthly  honors  and  dignities.  Help 
us  to  see  that  a  man’s  true  rewards  in  life  are  found  in  his  own  soul, 
self -enfolding  the  large  results  of  experience,  magnanimity,  courage, 
heroism,  purity  of  purpose;  and  that  thus,  and  thus  alone,  we  can 
attain  glory,  honor,  immortality,  eternal  life.  So  teach  us  to  num¬ 
ber  our  days  that  we  may  apply  our  hearts  unto  wisdom.  We  pray 
through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord,  Amen. 

DEATH  OF  SENATOR  LOGAN. 

Mr.  Thomas,  of  Illinois.  Mr.  Speaker,  I  now  call  up  the  resolu¬ 
tions  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  the  late  Senator  Logan  passed  by 
the  Senate  and  transmitted  to  the  House. 

The  resolutions  were  read,  as  follows  : 

Resolved  by  the  Senate,  That  as  an  additional  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of 
John  A.  Logan,  long  a  Senator  from  the  State  of  Illinois,  and  a  distinguished 
member  of  this  body,  business  be  now  suspended,  that  the  friends  and  associates  of 
the  deceased  may  pay  fitting  tribute  to  his  public  and  private  virtues. 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Senate  be  directed  to  communicate  these  res¬ 
olutions  to  the  House  of  Representatives  and  to  furnish  an  engrossed  copy  of  the 
same  to  the  family  of  the  deceased  Senator. 

Mr.  Thomas,  of  Illinois.  I  now  submit  for  present  consideration 
the  resolutions  I  send  to  the  desk. 


77 


78 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


The  Clerk  read  as  follows : 

Resolved,  That  this  House  has  heard  with  profound  sorrow  of  the  death  of  John 
A.  Logan,  late  a  Senator  from  the  State  of  Illinois. 

Resolved,  That  the  business  of  this  house  be  suspended  that  appropriate  honors 
may  be  paid  to  the  memory  of  the  deceased. 

Resolved,  That  the  Clerk  of  the  House  be  directed  to  transmit  to  the  family  of 
the  deceased  a  copy  of  these  resolutions. 

Resolved,  That  as  an  additional  mark  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  deceased 
this  House  do  now  adjourn. 

Mr.  Thomas,  of  Illinois.  There  are  a  number  of  gentlemen  who 
have  expressed  a  desire  to  speak  or  to  print  remarks  upon  this  occa¬ 
sion,  and  in  their  behalf  I  ask  unanimous  consent  that  permission 
be  given  generally  to  print,  and  also  to  extend  remarks  which  may 
be  delivered  on  this  subject  in  the  Record. 

The  Speaker.  Without  objection,  that  order  will  be  made. 

There  was  no  objection,  and  it  was  so  ordered. 


Address  of  Mr.  Thomas,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  Logan  is  dead,  and  we,  his  friends,  comrades,  col¬ 
leagues,  and  admirers,  have  gathered  here  to-day  to  bear  testimony 
to  his  worth ;  to  stop  for  a  few  moments  beside  the  new-made  grave, 
as  it  were,  and  cover  with  flowers  his  last  resting  place.  Nations 
have  stood  with  uncovered  heads  in  respectful  honor  of  men  whose 
works  and  deeds  have  been  as  nothing  compared  to  Logan’s. 

For  almost  thirty  years  his  official  acts  and  personal  doings  have 
formed  a  considerable  portion  of  the  woof  and  warp  of  our  country’s 
history,  and  for  the  last  twenty-five  years  there  has  scarcely  been  a 
day,  and  along  the  whole  line  hardly  a  point,  where  the  form,  the 
voice,  the  footprints  of  Logan  could  not  be  seen,  heard,  and  recog¬ 
nized. 

That  Logan  was  a  self-made  man  is,  in  a  certain  sense,  true ;  but 
if  by  the  term  “ self-made”  any  one  understands  or  intends  to  con¬ 
vey  the  idea  that  he  was  born  within  the  dark,  cheerless,  comfortless 
valley  of  poverty,  ignorance,  and  lowly  social  position,  he  was  not 
self-made.  His  father,  Dr.  John  Logan,  was  a  polished,  cultivated, 
educated  physician,  surgeon,  and  gentleman  of  large  means  for  the 
day  and  frontier  country  in  which  he  lived.  He  occupied  the  high¬ 
est  social  position,  and  was  frequently  honored  by  his  people  by 
elections  to  the  State  legislature  and  other  official  positions.  Gen- 


Address  of  Mr.  Thomas,  of  Illinois.  79 

7  \  \  \ 

eral  Logan’s  mother  belonged  to  one  of  the  best  families  of  the 
South,  being  a  sister  of  Lieutenant-Governor  and  Judge  Jenkins, 
formerly  of  Virginia,  recently  of  Illinois. 

While  the  old  home  wa^  not  a  palace,  it  was  comfortable,  ample 
in  size  for  the  family,  friends,  and  belated  traveler  passing  that 
way.  It  was  the  rendezvous  for  the  gentry,  the  politicians,  and  the 
best  people  of  that  country,  who  always  found  a  welcome  around 
the  bountiful  and  hospitable  board  of  Dr.  Logan.  Amid  such  scenes 
and  surroundings,  John  Alexander  Logan  was  born  and  reared. 
Schools  and  colleges  were  few  and  far  between  in  Southern  Illinois 
in  those  early  days,  and  therefore  an  education  was  difficult  to  ob¬ 
tain.  In  educating  and  preparing  himself  for  the  conspicuous  po¬ 
sitions,  both  civil  and  military,  occupied  for  so  many  years  by  him, 
he  was  indeed  self-made. 

Logan  was  a  born  warrior,  full  to  overflowing  with  military  ge¬ 
nius,  spirit,  courage,  and  dash.  His  military  record  in  the  Mexican 
war  was  creditable  and  honorable  for  one  of  his  years,  but  it  was 
during  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  that  his  military  ardor  and  genius 
blazed  forth  in  peerless  splendor  and  glory.  As  colonel  of  the 
Thirty-first  Illinois  Regiment  he  was  almost  worshiped  by  his  offi¬ 
cers  and  men ;  as  the  commander  of  a  brigade,  division,  corps,  and 
army,  he  was  the  central  sun  of  all  his  command,  and  stood  in  their 
estimation  as  the  invincible  commander,  the  irresistible  leader. 

At  the  battles  of  Fort  Honelson,  Champion  Hills,  Vicksburg,  Ray¬ 
mond,  Resaca,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Peachtree  Creek,  Decatur,  At¬ 
lanta,  and  Jonesborough  he  led  his  forces  always  to  victory.  He  was 
the  most  magnetic,  romantically  dashing  soldier  I  ever  saw  upon  the 
battlefield.  Who  of  those  who  witnessed  it  can  ever  forget  the  pict¬ 
uresque  splendor  of  his  appearance  and  bearing  as  he  dashed  down 

the  line  as  the  new  commander  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  just 
after  McPherson  fell  on  that  terrible  22d  day  of  July,  1864. 

The  impetuous  Hood  had  launched  his  forces  upon  our  lines  with 
the  fury  and  power  of  an  Alpine  avalanche  ;  McPherson  the  chival¬ 
rous  had  fallen ;  a  half-defined  panic  seized  our  men,  and  they  began 
falling  back,  steadily,  almost  doggedly,  at  first ;  but  with  fast-expiring 
couragmaiid  rapidly  increasing  speed  they  shrunk  before  the  eager 
onslaught  of  the  enemy.  Just  then  Logan  came  tearing  down  the 
line  at  full  speed.  He  was  superbly  mounted  upon  a  powerful  black 
stallion,  a  genuine  charger,  a  war  horse  indeed ;  his  long  black  hair 


30  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

floated  out  like  a  banner,  liis  fearless  eagle  eyes  were  two  flaming 
orbs,  his  face  was  as  dark  as  the  front  of  a  storm  cloud,  and  his  voice 
was  like  the  battle-blast  of  a  bugle.  Instantly  the  retreating,  half 
panic-stricken  soldiers  changed  front,  reformed  their  line  of  battle, 
fixed  bayonets,  and  followed  Logan  in  an  irresistible  charge  against 
the  enemy,  driving  them  in  confusion  from  the  field. 

At  the  battle  of  Raymond  it  became  necessary  to  change  the  posi¬ 
tion  of  a  battery  of  artillery  on  the  field.  In  moving  to  the  new  posi¬ 
tion  the  battery  had  to  pass  over  a  portion  of  the  field  where  quite  a 
number  of  the  dead  of  both  armies  lay.  Logan  halted  the  battery, 
and,  while  in  full  sight  of  the  enemy  and  under  fire,  dismounted  and 
helped  with  his  own  hands  to  tenderly  remove  the  dead  bodies,  both 
Federal  and  Confederate,  from  the  road  where  the  cannon  had  to 
pass. 

Such  chivalry,  such  magnanimity,  such  tenderness  in  the  fire,  shot, 
storm,  and  very  hell  of  battle,  has  never  been  surpassed,  nor  equaled 
since  the  days  of  Bayard,  Sidney,  and  De  La  Hay,  of  each  of  whom, 
and  Logan,  it  could  be  truthfully  said,  “He  was  without  fear  and 
without  reproach.”  Since  the  war  he  has  been,  and  ever  will  be, 
regarded  as  the  ideal  volunteer  soldier  by  his  old  comrades  wherever 
dispersed. 

Logan  was  a  born  leader  in  civil  as  well  as  in  military  life.  As  a 
nisi  prius  lawyer  he  stood  in  the  front  rank  of  the  profession,  even 
before  he  entered  Congress  the  first  time.  As  a  member  of  the  Illi¬ 
nois  legislature  he  was  chairman  of  the  judiciary  committee  of  the 
house. 

In  Congress,  both  in  the  House  and  Senate,  his  position  and  works 
have  been  so  important  and  conspicuous  for  almost  a  quarter  of  a 
century  that  the  country  and  the  yhole  civilized  world  must  be  fa¬ 
miliar  with  them. 

He  was  a  partisan,  both  in  religion  and  politics.  While  not  a 
conspicuous  member  of  the  church,  he  had  a  firm  hold  on  his  reli¬ 
gious  opinions,  and  believed  with  all  his  heart  in  the  Christian  reli¬ 
gion  and  the  doctrines  and  creed  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
N othing  would  stir  his  wrath  more  quickly  or  effectually  than  a  sneer 
or  gibe  at  the  Christian  religion. 

And  so  in  politics.  While  originally  a  Democrat,  when  brought 
face  to  face  with  and  being  cednpelled  to  choose  between  a  National 
Government  or  a  oonfederation  of  States,  he  at  once  unhesitatingly 


Address  of  Mr.  Henderson,  of  Illinois. 


81 


chose  the  National  Government,  rejecting  the  idea  that  this  Govern¬ 
ment  was  a  confederation  of  sovereign  States,  and  at  once  became  a 
Republican  of  the  most  pronounced  type.  He  had  the  courage  of 
his  convictions  and  believed  with  all  his  soul  in  republicanism  and 
in  the  idea  that  “this  is  a  Government  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 
for  the  people.”  While  greatly  maligned  and  much  abused  and  mis¬ 
represented  by  his  political  opponents,  he  was  honored  and  beloved 
by  his  old  neighbors  and  friends  without  regard  to  politics. 

Few  men  have  held  so  many  hearts  in  the  hollow  of  their  hand  as 
did  John  A.  Logan.  He  was  the  most  conspicuous  political  figure 
in  the  W est,  if  not  in  the  country ;  and  in  Illinois  the  vacancy  caused 
by  his  death  can  never  be  filled. 

His  smile  will  ne’er  again  cheer  comrade’s  heart, 

Nor  voice  fall  sweetly  on  the  eager  ear 
Of  listening  multitudes.  The  nobler  part 
Is  his.  With  boundless  trust,  faith  pure  and  clear, 

He  rests  within  the  bosom  of  his  Lord. 

Farewell  to  thee,  or  to  that  part  which  dies  ; 

But  to  thy  name  and  bright  imperishable  fame 
We  can  not  say  farewell.  Within  our  hearts  their  lies 
A  memory  of  thy  glorious  deeds  and  name 
Which  alone  with  death  can  die. 


Address  of  Mr.  Henderson,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Speaker:  I  am  deeply  sensible  that  no  words  of  mine  can  add 
to  the  name  and  fame  of  General  John  A.  Logan  ;  and  yet,  coming 
as  I  do  from  the  State  in  which  he  had  his  birth,  and  which  at  the 
time  of  his  death  he  so  ably  represented  in  the  Senate,  and  having 
for  so  many  years  had  the  honor  of  his  acquaintance  and  friendship, 
I  can  not,  in  justice  to  my  own  feelings,  permit  this  occasion  to  pass 
without  paying  some  tribute,  however  humble  it  may  be,  to  his 
memory.  My  first  acquaintance  with  John  A.  Logan  began  in  1840, 
when  we  were  yet  but  boys.  His  father,  Dr.  John  Logan,  whom  I  well 
remember,  and  mine,  were  in  that  year  members  of  our  State  legis¬ 
lature,  and  we  accompanied  them  to  Springfield,  the  then  new  cap¬ 
ital  of  our  State;  where  we  first  met  and  formed  an  acquaintance 
which  a  little  later  became  intimate,  and  finally  ripened  into  a  friend¬ 
ship  which  continued  uninterrupted  and  unbroken  to  the  day  of  his 
death. 

6  L 


82  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

I  remember  John  A.  Logan  as  a  member  of  our  State  legislature 
in  1853,  and  again  in  1857,  when  he  was  a  member  of  the  house  and 
I  a  member  of  the  senate.  He  was  then  an  intense,  an  ardent  Dem¬ 
ocrat,  and  I  was  first  a  Whig  and  then  a  Republican.  But,  however 
we  differed  politically,  our  personal  intercourse  was  always  pleasant 
and  friendly;  and  no  man  could  know  Logan  without  respecting 
him  for  the  strength  of  his  character  and  for  his  frankness  and  his 
manliness. 

In  1853  he  must  have  been,  if  not  the  youngest,  among  the  youngest 
members  of  the  State  legislature,  and  yet  he  was  a  leading,  promi¬ 
nent  member  of  the  house  of  representatives;  took  an  active  part  in 
all  the  proceedings,  and  exhibited  at  that  early  day  the  same  charac¬ 
teristics  which,  in  the  last  twenty-six  or  seven  years  of  his  life, 
made  him  one  among  the  most  conspicuous  figures  in  our  national 
affairs  ;  that  is,  he  was  earnest,  enthusiastic,  fearless.  He  had  opin¬ 
ions  and  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  and  he  maintained  them 
with  an  ability  which  I  know  made  his  then  political  friends  regard 
him  as  one  of  the  most  promising  young  men  of  the  State. 

Logan  was  a  member  of  the  Thirty-sixth  and  also  of  the  Thirty- 
seventh  Congress.  But  in  1861,  before  the  expiration  of  his  second 
term,  he  resigned  his  seat  in  Congress,  went  home  to  Illinois,  raised 
a  regiment,  and  entered  into  the  military  service  of  his  country  for 
the  preservation  of  the  Union.  He  served  in  the  Thirty-sixth  and  in 
the  Thirty- seventh  Congress  with  ability  and  distinction.  The  dis¬ 
tinguished  member  *  Judge  Kelley)  who  sits  before  me  served  with 
him  in  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  and  can  speak  more  accurately 
of  his  public  service  at  that  time  than  I  can.  But  in  1861,  in  the  last 
month  of  that  memorable  Congress  which  closed  with  the  inaugu¬ 
ration  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as  President,  Logan  uttered  these  patri¬ 
otic  words : 

I  have  been  taught  that  the  preservation  of  this  glorious  Union,  with  its  broad 
flag  waving  over  us  as  the  shield  of  our  protection  on  land  and  sea,  is  paramount 
to  all  parties  and  platforms  that  ever  have  existed  or  ever  can  exist.  I  would  to¬ 
day,  if  I  had  the  power,  sink  my  own  party  and  every  other  one  with  all  their 
platforms  into  the  vortex  of  ruin,  without  heaving  a  sigh  or  shedding  a  tear,  to  save 
the  Union,  or  even  to  stay  the  revolution  where  it  is. 

This  was  the  language  of  sublime  patriotism,  and  if  Logan  had 
uttered  no  other  words  but  these  in  that  Congress  they  would  of 
themselves  have  entitled  him  to  the  highest  distinction  as  a  noble 
citizen  and  a  true  patriot. 

I  was,  Mr.  Speaker,  of  Southern  birth,  and  I  loved  my  native  land 


Address  of  Mr.  Henderson,  of  Illinois.  83 

as  a  man  ought  to  love  it.  But  I  loved  this  great  Republic  better  if 
possible  than  I  loved  my  own  life;  and  knowing  John  A.  Logan  as 
well  as  I  did,  with  his  strong  political  and  party  prejudices,  I  can 
never  forget  how  my  heart  warmed  towards  him  when  I  heard  of 
the  noble,  patriotic  stand  he  had  taken  for  the  Union  and  for  the  flag 
of  his  country.  Up  to  that  time  we  had  been  politically  opposed  to 
each  other.  But  from  that  on  until  I  stood  by  his  bedside,  on  that 
sad  and  deeply  distressing  26th  day  of  December,  and  saw  him  pass 
away*  I  never  ceased  to  love  and  honor  him. 

I  shall  not  attempt  on  this  occasion  to  follow  General  Logan  at 
length  in  all  his  brilliant  and  wonderful  career  after  he  entered  the 
Union  Army  in  1861.  Uor  is  it  necessary  for  me  to  do  so,  for  his 
military  service  at  least  is  well  known  to  all  persons  who  admire 
great  deeds  and  love  and  honor  the  glory  of  their  countrymen.  The 
story  of  the  many  memorable  marches,  battles,  and  campaigns  in 
which  Logan  participated  and  won  a  glorious  distinction  and  a  name 
that  will  live  forever  fill  the  brightest  pages  of  his  country’s  history, 
and  will  be  repeated  by  the  children  of  the  Republic,  I  trust,  when 
all  who  now  live  shall  have  passed  away. 

'  Logan  was  in  the  meridian  of  life  when  he  entered  the  Army  in 
1861.  He  had  served  with  some  distinction  as  a  soldier  in  the  war 
with  Mexico,  and  was  not  therefore  altogether  without  experience 
in  military  life,  and  at  once  on  again  entering  the  military  service 
of  his  country,  animated  as  he  was  by  the  loftiest  patriotism,  he  dis¬ 
played  such  marked  ability  and  such  high  soldierly  qualities  that  his 
fame  was  assured  in  the  very  first  battles  in  which  he  participated. 
We  can  not  well  think  of  Belmont,  of  Henry,  and  of  Donelson  with¬ 
out  associating  the  name  of  Logan  with  them.  At  Donelson  really 
the  first  great  victory  of  the  war  was  won;  and  Illinois  certainly  had 
her  full  share  of  the  glory  of  that  victory.  Every  patriot  in  the  land, 
and  especially  every  citizen  of  Illinois,  should  ever  feel  a  just  degree 
of  pride  in  remembering  the  names  of  Grant,  and  Wallace,  and  Mc- 
Clernand,  and  Logan,  and  Oglesby,  and  Morrison,  and  Ransom, 
with  all  the  other  brave  and  gallant  soldiers  of  Illinois  who  helped 
to  fight  the  battle  and  win  the  victory  at  Donelson. 

Well  might  the  governor  of  Massachusetts  congratulate  the  gov¬ 
ernor  of  Illinois  on  the  gallantry  of  her  troops  in  giving  to  the 
country  the  first  great  victory  of  the  war.  And,  Mr.  Speaker,  Logan 
was  a  conspicuous  figure  in  the  battle  of  Donelson;  and  it  was  there 


84 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


he  shed  his  first  blood  in  defense  of  the  Union  and  the  flag  of  his 
country.  But  at  Corinth,  at  Port  Gibson,  Raymond,  Jackson,  Cham¬ 
pion  Hills,  and  Vicksburg,  at  Rocky  Faced  Ridge,  at  Resaca,  and  all 
the  memorable  battles  of  the  Atlanta  campaign;  on  the  march  from 
Atlanta  to  the  sea,  and  up  through  the  Carolinas  to  Bentonville,  IV 
C.,  where  I  believe  he  fought  his  last  battle  of  the  war  for  the  Union; 
and  everywhere  Avherever  this  brave,  gallant,  patriotic  soldier  went 
at  the  head  of  his  command,  he  upheld  and  defended  the  flag  of  his 
country  with  a  heroism  and  a  patriotism  absolutely  sublime. 

At  Goldsborough,  1ST.  C.,  I  met  General  Logan  for  the  first  time, 
during  the  Avar  ;  I  called  on  him  at  his  headquarters,  and  received 
from  him  a  cordial  and  .pleasant  greeting.  But  I  Avas  strongly  im¬ 
pressed  Avith  the  wonderful  change  Avhich  I  found  in  him  since  I  had 
last  seen  him.  He  was  changed  in  his  manner.  He  had  none  of  the 
rollicking  air  of  his  earlier  years.  He  had  manifestly  grown  Avith 
his  great  opportunities.  The  great  responsibilities  Avhich  had  rested 
upon  him,  first  as  commander  of  a  regiment,  then  of  a  brigade,  then 
of  a  diArision,  and  finally  of  an  army  corps,  in  the  field,  and  engaged 
in  active  military  operations,  had  developed  in  him  a  higher,  better, 
and  nobler  manhood.  The  fearful  scenes  through  which  he .  had 
passed  had  given  him  more  sober  vieAvs  of  life.  There  was  nothing 
of  profanity  or  frivolity  in  his  conversation.  He  spoke  of  the  won¬ 
derful  war  through  which  we  had  been  passing,  and  Avhich,  as  Rich¬ 
mond  was  then  in  our  occupation,  he  fondly  hoped  would  soon  be 
over.  He  expressed  the  belief  that  we  would  emerge  from  under  the 
dark  cloud  of  war  stronger  and  better  as  a  nation  and  a  people  than 
ever  before. 

It  was  a  pleasure  to  me  to  hear  him  speak  so  hopefully  of  the  future 
of  our  country,  for  in  the  courage  of  his  great  soul  he  saw  no  serious 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  our  future  national  greatness  and  glory. 
There  Avas  no  pride,  no  pomp,  no  ostentation  in  his  manner  ;  and  I 
was  deeply  gratified  to  see  that  he  bore  the  high  rank  and  distin¬ 
guished  honors,  which  he  had  fairly  won  by  his  oavii  gallantry,  with 
becoming  modesty.  And  I  can  say  to-day,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  I  left 
his  headquarters  at  that  time  with  a  feeling  of  pride  in  John  A. 
Logan  as  a  citizen  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  which  has  never  dimin¬ 
ished  in  all  the  years  that  have  followed. 

Mr.  Speaker,  Logan  was  a  great  soldier.  He  was  not  only  a  soldier 
of  great  courage,  but  he  had  great  ability  to  command  men  ;  and  he 


Address  of  Mr.  Henderson,  of  Illinois.  85 

fairly  won  for  himself  every  promotion  lie  received,  from  the  begin¬ 
ning  to  the  end  of  the  war,  by  his  valor,  his  ability,  and  his  patriot¬ 
ism.  He  richly  deserves  the  reputation  so  universally  accorded  to 
him  of  being  the  great  volunteer  general  of  the  Union  Army.  And 
from  the  time  he  drew  his  sword  in  defense  of  the  Union  until  he 
sheathed  it  at  the  close  of  the  war,  when  peace  was  restored  and  the 
Union  saved,  there,  was  no  stain,  no  dishonor  upon  it.  He  served 
honorably  and  faithfully  in  whatever  capacity  he  was  placed,  and 
by  liis  soldierly  bearing  in  every  battle  he  fought  he  inspired  in  his 
men  a  confidence  and  courage  which  repelled  all  thought  of  defeat. 
How  many  old  soldiers  I  have  heard  say  to  me,  “We  always  felt 
safer  and  better  when  we  knew  Logan  was  near.” 

WTas  ever  any  general  more  beloved,  more  idolized  by  his  men  than 
was  Logan  ?  And  did  ever  any  general  love  and  honor  the  soldiers 
who  fought  under  him,  and  I  may  say  all  soldiers  who  followed  the 
flag  in  defense  of  the  Union,  more  than  did  John  A.  Logan?  I  think 
I  can  safely  say  No!  in  answer  to  both  these  questions.  He  was  at  all 
times  and  under  all  circumstances  the  soldiers’  friend.  He  was  their 
friend  during  the  war,  whether  in  the  camp,  on  the  march,  or  on  the 
battlefield.  And  ever  since  the  war  he  has  been  their  friend.  In ' 
his  active  military  service,  marching  and  moving  from  State  to 
State,  none  knew  better  than  he  how  much  of  suffering,  how  much 
of  exposure  and  hardship  soldiers  had  to  endure  in  fighting  the  bat¬ 
tles  of  their  country.  He  knew  how  they  had  impaired  health  and 
periled  life  itself  to  save  the  Republic,  and  at  all  times  and  on  all 
occasions,  when  proper  to  do  so,  he  insisted  that  justice  should  be 
done  the  soldier,  and  I  believe  that  his  death  produced  a  more  pro¬ 
found  sorrow  in  the  hearts  of  the  old  soldiers  of  the  country  than 
that  of  any  other  man  who  has  died  since  the  war,  unless  it  may 
have  been  the  death  of  that  great  soldier,  General  Grant. 

But  it  is  not  for  the  military  service  of  General  Logan  alone, 
glorious  as  that  has  been,  that  we  should  honor  his  name.  I  have 
spoken  of  his  service  in  civil  life  before  the  war.  But  since  the  war 
he  has  represented  the  State  of  Illinois  in  Congress,  either  as  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  House  or  the  Senate,  continuously  from  1866  to  the  day  of 
his  death,  with  an  intermission  of  two  years,  and  always  with  great 
ability  and  fidelity.  No  man  has  ever  been  more  faithful  to  public 
duty  than  John  A.  Logan.  He  has  been  true  to  every  trust  con¬ 
fided  to  him,  and  is  entitled  to  quite  as  much  distinction  for  his 


86 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan . 


energy  and  industry,  his  integrity  and  ability  in  the  councils  of  the 
nation  since  the  war  as  he  was  for  his  heroic  courage,  his  gallantry, 
and  his  patriotism  in  the  military  service  during  the  war.  John  A. 
Logan  was  one  of  the  most  untiring,  energetic,  industrious,  fearless 
men  I  have  ever  known  in  public  life.  I  have  often  wondered  how 
he  accomplished  so  much  work  as  he  did,  for  but  few,  if  any,  of  our 
public  men  have  taken  a  more  active  part  in  all  our  important 
national  legislation  in  the  last  twenty  years  than  Logan.  And  yet 
he  loved  his  friends  devotedly,  and  when  I  have  called  upon  him  I 
found  him  generally  surrounded  by  a  house  full  of  acquaintances 
and  friends :  and  when  he  found  time  or  opportunity  to  prepare 
himself  so  well  as  he  did  for  his  public  duties  was  to  me  a  mystery. 

But  Logan  was  in  many  respects  a  remarkable  man.  He  never 
shirked  either  duty  or  danger.  He  never  approached  public  ques¬ 
tions  or  public  duties  limpingly  or  haltingly.  On  the  contrary,  he 
met  them  boldly  and  without  hesitation.  He  was  as  quick  to  form 
an  opinion  as  he  was  frank  to  express  and  bold  to  defend  it  after  it 
was  formed.  He  was  a  man  of  positive  character  and  convictions, 
and  always  asserted  himself  in  whatever  position  he  was  placed,  if 
it  was  in  the  performance  of  a  public  duty ;  but  it  was  without  ar¬ 
rogance  or  an  assumption  of  self-importance.  It  has  been  said  that 
he  was  ambitious  to  be  President,  and  if  he  was  it  was  an  honorable 
ambition,  and  many  of  us  who  knew  him  best  and  honored  him  for 
his  great  deeds  believed  that  his  distinguished  services  both  in  civil 
and  military  life  fairly  entitled  him  to  that  honor.  But  he  was 
manly  and  honorable  in  his  ambition,  and  was  never  a  trimmer  nor 
time-server ;  he  never  dodged  or  tried  to  dodge  any  question  nor 
avoid  any  responsibility  for  fear  it  might  affect  his  Presidential 
aspirations.  He  was  always  a  true  man,  and  you  knew  exactly 
where  to  find  him  and  what  to  depend  upon. 

It  has  been  said  that  Logan  was  not  without  his  faults,  and  so  he 
was  not.  If  he  had  been  he  would  not  have  been  human.  But  he 
had  as  few  of  them  as  most  of  men.  Some  say  that  he  was  impa¬ 
tient  at  opposition,  and  that  this  was  a  weakness  of  his  character.  I 
know,  Mr.  Speaker,  he  was  sometimes  impatient  at  opposition  ;  but 
I  have  attributed  it  to  the  earnestness  of  his  nature,  the  absolute 
honesty  of  his  convictions,  and  a  strong  belief  that  he  was  in  the 
right,  and  it  was  difficult  for  him  to  understand  why  others  could 
not  see  the  matter  in  the  same  strong  light  in  which  he  saw  it.  And 


Address  of  Mr.  Henderson,  of  Illinois. 


87 


this  impatience  of  opposition  was  not  always  an  evidence  of  weak¬ 
ness,  but  often  of  strength  of  character.  Whatever  faults,  however, 
General  Logan  may  have  had,  he  certainly  had  great  virtues,  and 
many  noble  qualities  both  of  head  and  heart.  He  was  a  loving,  de¬ 
voted  husband,  a  kind,  affectionate  father,  a  generous,  true  friend, 
and  an  honest,  manly  man. 

But  he  has  left  us.  This  man  of  wonderful  activity,  of  untiring 
energy  and  industry,  of  earnest  patriotism,  of  heroic  courage  and 
distinguished  ability — this  illustrious  citizen,  soldier,  and  Senator 
has  gone  out  from  among  us  to  return  no  more  forever.  He  has  left 
us,  as  many  of  us  who  knew  him  best  and  loved  him  most  believed, 
before  he  had  reached  the  zenith  of  his  usefulness,  and  when  we 
hoped  higher  honors  were  yet  in  store  for  him. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  stood  at  the  bedside  of  John  A.  Logan  when  he 
was  dying  and  saw  him  pass  peacefully  away.  And  the  scene,  one 
of  the  most  affecting  and  I  may  say  deeply  distressing  I  ever  wit¬ 
nessed,  can  never  be  obliterated  from  my  memory.  To  see  this 
strong  man,  this  friend  and  brother,  this  distinguished  and  much- 
beloved  citizen  and  Senator  of  my  own  State,  struggling  with  that 
enemy  of  our  race  to  whom  we  must  all  sooner  or  later  surrender, 
and  to  witness  the  deep  anguish,  the  bitter  grief  of  his  heart-broken 
wife  and  children,  filled  my  heart  with  an  inexpressible  sadness,  with 
a  depth  of  sorrow  never  felt  before  in  the  death  of  any  public  man, 
however  distinguished.  And  to-day  my  heart,  and  I  trust  all  our 
hearts,  go  out  in  tenderest  sympathy  for  that  noble  woman,  his  grief- 
stricken  widow,  and  her  children,  who  sit  under  the  shadow  of  a 
great  sorrow. 

Mr.  Speaker,  we  shall  miss  Logan  in  the  councils  of  the  nation. 
We  shall  miss  him  in  the  State  which  gave  him  birth,  and  where  he 
filled  a  large  place  in  the  hearts  and  affections  of  the  people.  Gen¬ 
eral  Logan  has  been  greatly  beloved  and  honored  by  the  State  of 
Illinois,  and  in  return  he  has  shed  honor  and  renown  upon  the  State 
by  faithful  and  honorable  service,  and  by  the  luster  of  his  great 
deeds.  And  to-day  we  deplore  his  death  and  mourn  his  loss  as  a 
calamity  to  the  State  and  to  the  entire  country.  But  he  leaves  be¬ 
hind  him  a  brilliant  record,  a  noble  example,  and  a  name  and  fame 
which  will  live  forever. 


38  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Address  of  Mr.  McKinley,  of  Ohio. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  A  great  citizen  wlio  filled  high  public  stations  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  lias  passed  away,  and  the  House  of 
Representatives  turns  aside  from  its  usual  public  duties  that  it  may 
place  in  its  permanent  and  official  records  a  tribute  to  liis  memory 
and  manifest  in  some  degree  its  appreciation  of  his  lofty  character 
and  illustrious  services. 

General  Logan  was  a  conspicuous  figure  in  war,  and  scarcely  less 
conspicuous  in  peace.  Whether  on  the  field  of  arms  or  in  the  forum 
where  ideas  clash,  General  Logan  was  ever  at  the  front. 

Mr.  Speaker,  he  was  a  leader  of  men,  having  convictions,  with 
the  courage  to  utter  and  enforce  them  in  any  place  and  to  defend 
them  against  any  adversary.  He  was  never  long  in  the  rear  among 
the  followers.  Starting  there,  his  resolute  and  resistless  spirit  soon 
impressed  itself  upon  his  fellows,  and  he  was  quickly  advanced  to 
his  true  and  rightful  rank  of  leadership.  Without  the  aid  of  for¬ 
tune,  without  the  aid  of  influential  friends,  he  won  his  successive 
stations  of  honor  by  the  force  of  his  own  integrity  and  industry,  his 
own  high  character  and  indomitable  will. 

And  it  may  be  said  of  him  that  he  justly  represents  one  of  the  best 
types  of  American  manhood,  and  illustrates  in  his  life  the  outcome 
and  the  possibilities  of  the  American  youth  under  the  generous  in¬ 
fluences  of  our  free  institutions. 

Participating  in  two  wars,  the  records  of  both  attest  his  courage 
and  devotion,  his  valor  and  his  sacrifices  for  the  country  which  he 
loved  so  well,  and  to  which  he  more  than  once  dedicated  everything 
he  possessed,  even  life  itself.  Reared  a  Democrat,  as  has  already 
been  said,  he  turned  away  from  many  of  the  old  party  leaders  when 
the  trying  crisis  came  which  was  to  determine  whether  the  Union 
was  to  be  saved  or  to  be  severed.  He  joined  his  old  friend  and  party 
leader,  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  with  all  the  ardor  of  his  strong  nature, 
and  the  safety  and  preservation  of  the  Union  became  the  overshad¬ 
owing  and  absorbing  purpose  of  his  life.  His  creed  was  his  country. 
Patriotism  was  the  sole  plank  in  his  platform.  Everything  must 
yield  to  this  sentiment ;  every  other  consideration  must  be  subordi¬ 
nated  to  it,  and  he  threw  the  whole  force  of  his  great  character  at 
the  very  outset  into  the  struggle  for  national  life.  To  him  no  sacri- 


Address  of  Mr.  McKinley,  of  Ohio. 


89 


fice  was  too  great,  no  undertaking  too  difficult,  no  charge  too  des_. 
perate,  no  exposure  too  severe,  no  siege  too  hazardous.  He  com¬ 
manded,  Mr.  Speaker,  on  the  battle  line,  and  never  ordered  his  men 
to  go  where  he  would  not  lead.  His  skirmishers  were  never  so  close 
to  the  enemy’s  guns  as  to  keep  him  away.  He  was  every  inch  a 
soldier,  dashing  and  fearless,  often  exposing  himself  unnecessarily 
against  the  earnest  protest  of  his  commanders  and  his  comrades. 

Wherever  the  lire  was  the  hottest,  wherever  the  line  was  most  ex¬ 
posed,  wherever  the  danger  was  most  imminent  John  A.  Logan 
was  always  to  be  found.  He  seemed  the  very  incarnation  of  sol¬ 
dierly  valor  and  vigor.  Belmont  and  Donelson,  Champion  Hills  and 
Vicksburg,  Missionary  Ridge  and  Lookout  Mountain  tell  the  story 
of  his  lofty  courage,  of  his  martial  qualities,  of  his  genius  to  com¬ 
mand  and  of  his  matchless  heroism,  as  these  great  battles  tell  to  all 
mankind  the  dreadful  cost  of  liberty  and  the  price  of  nationality. 

Great  and  commanding,  however,  Mr.  Speaker,  as  were  his  serv¬ 
ices  in  war  the  true  eulogist  of  General  Logan  can  never  pass  un¬ 
noticed  the  important  services  rendered  immediately  preceding  liis 
enlistment  and  afterward  in  arousing  an  intense,  a  deep,  a  profound 
,love  for  country  and  a  strong  and  lasting  sentiment  for  the  cause 
of  the  Union,  not  only  in  his  own  State,  but  in  every  one  of  the 
Northern  States;  and  the  full  measure  and  influence  of  his  prompt 
action  and  courageous  stand  at  that  time  never  can  be  estimated. 
His  patriotic  words  penetrated  the  hearts  and  the  homes  of  the' 
people  of  *  twenty-t  wo  States.  They  increased  enlistment.  They 
swelled  the  muster-rolls  of  the  States.  They  moved  the  indifferent, 
to  prompt  action,  they  drew  the  doubting  into  the  ranks  of  the 
country’s  defenders. 

His  first  election  to  Congress  was  in  the  year  made  memorable  by 
the  debate  between  Lincoln  and  Douglas.  In  the  Presidential  con¬ 
test  of  1860  following  he  was  the  enthusiastic  friend  and  supporter 
of  Douglas.  But  the  moment  secession  was  initiated  and  the  Union 
threatened  he  was  among  the  first  to  tender  his  swofd  and  his 
services  to  Abraham  Lincoln  and  to  throw  the  weight  of  his  great 
character  and  resolute  soul  on  the  side  represented  by  the  political 
rival  of  his  old  friend.  He  resigned  his  seat  in  Congress  to  raise  a. 
regiment,  and  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  in  the  Congressional  dis¬ 
trict  which  he  represented  more  soldiers  were  sent  to  the  front, 
according  to  its  population  than  in  any  other  Congressional  district 


90 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


in  the  United  States.  It  is  a  further  significant  fact,  that  in  1860 
when  he  ran  for  Congress  as  a  Democratic  candidate,  in  what  was 
known  as  the  old  Ninth  Congressional  district,  he  received  a  majority 
of  over  13,000;  and  six  years  afterwards,  when  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  war  he  ran  as  a  candidate  of  the  Republican  party  in  the  State 
of  Illinois  as  Representative  to  Congress  at  large,  the  same  old  Ninth 
district  that  had  given  him  a  Democratic  majority  of  13,000  in  1860 
gave  him  a  Republican  majority  of  over  3,000  in  1866.  Whatever 
else  these  facts  may  teach,  Mr.  Speaker,  they  clearly  show  one  thing, 
that  John  A.  Logan’s  old  constituency  approved  of  his  course,  was 
proud  of  his  illustrious  services,  and  followed  the  flag  which  he  bore, 
which  was  the  flag  of  the  stars. 

His  service  in  this  House  and  in  the  Senate  almost  uninterruptedly 
since  1867  was  marked  by  great  industry,  by  rugged  honesty,  by 
devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  country  and  to  the  whole  country,  to 
the  rights  of  the  citizen,  and  especially  by  a  devotion  to  the  interests 
of  his  late  comrades  in  arms. 

He  was  a  strong  and  forcible  debater.  He  was  a  most  thorough 
master  of  the  subjects  he  discussed,  and  an  intense  believer  in  the 
policy  and  principles  he  advocated.  In  popular  discussion  upon  the 
hustings  he  had  no  superiors,  and  but  few  equals.  He  seized  the 
hearts  and  the  consciences  of  men,  and  moved  great  multitudes  with 
that  fury  of  enthusiasm  with  which  he  had  moved  his  soldiers  in  the 
field. 

Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  high  tribute  to  any  man,  it  is  high  tribute  to 
John  A.  Logan,  to  say  that  in  the  House  of  Representatives  where 
sat  Thaddeus  Stevens,  Robert  C.  Schenck,  James  G.  Blaine,  and 
James  A.  Garfield,  Henry  Winter  Davis,  and  William  D.  Kelley,  he 
stood  equal  in  favor  and  in  power  in  party  control.  And  it  is  equally 
high  tribute  to  him  to  say  that  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
where  sat  Charles  Sumner  and  Oliver  P.  Morton,  Hannibal  Hamlin 
and  Zachariah  Chandler,  John  Sherman  and  George  F.  Edmunds, 
Roscoe  Colliding  and  Justin  Morrill,  he  fairly  divided  with  them  the 
power  and  responsibility  of  Republican  leadership.  No  higher 
eulogy  can  be  given  to  any  man,  no  more  honorable  distinction  could 
be  coveted. 

It  has  been  said  here  to-day,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  John  A.  Logan 
was  a  partisan,  that  he  was  a  party  man.  So  he  was.  He  believed 
in  the  Republican  party  ;  but  while  he  believed  in  the  Republican 


Address  of  Mr.  McKinley,  of  Ohio. 


91 


party,  its  purposes  and  aspirations,  he  was  no  blind  follower  of  party 
caucuses  or  of  partisan  administrations.  The  world  knows  how 
Logan  loved  his  old  commander,  General  Grant.  He  loved  him 
with  a  simple  faith ;  he  had  been  his  friend  in  all  his  active  years ; 
he  had  presented  his  name  for  the  first  time  to  the  Republican 
National  Convention  in  1868,  as  the  candidate  of  the  then  dominant 
party  for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States,  and  he  had  stood  by 
him  and  supported  him  with  his  utmost  energy  in  every  subsequent 
contest  that  he  made  for  that  great  office.  But,  loving  Grant,  he  had 
yet  the  independence  and  the  courage  to  dissent  from  his  judgment 
and  his  policies  on  more  than  one  memorable  occasion,  and  I  recall 
one  such  occasion  now,  Mr.  Speaker,  which  can  not  be  remembered 
by  any  of  us  without  enhancing  our  admiration  for  the  dead  Senator. 

It  was  when  the  contest  between  President  Grant  and  Charles 
Sumner  was  at  its  height;  it  was  when  the  party  caucus  had  decreed 
that  the  veteran  statesman  of  Massachusetts,  the  apostle  of  freedom, 
must  be  deposed  from  the  chairmanship  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations  of  the  Senate,  a  position  he  had  so  long  and  with  such 
marked  distinction  filled,  a  position  for  which  he  was  eminently 
qualified  by  education,  ability,  and  experience.  John  A.  Logan  was 
one  of  four  Republican  Senators  who  uttered  earnest  and  emphatic 
protest  against  that  action,  and  his  grand  utterances  on  that  occasion 
should  be  remembered,  for  they  are  worthy  of  the  hero  of  a  hundred 
battles.  Here  are  his  words  : 

Twelve  years  ago,  when  I  came  to  Congress,  I  differed  with  the  Senator  from 
Massachusetts  in  my  political  opinions.  1  had  always  recognized  him  as  a  man  of 
great  ability,  as  a  man  of  sterling  integrity  and  worth.  Yet  I  had  no  sympathy 
whatever  with  his  political  views.  But  I  was  attracted  toward  him  in  my  sym¬ 
pathies  and  feelings  because  of  the  fact  that  I  stood  many  times  in  this  Chamber 
and  saw  him  stand  like  a  Roman  senator  and  hurl  away  the  curs  of  slavery  as  they 
snapped  and  snarled  at  him.  I  many  times  saw  him  disperse  them  in  debate  on  the 
floor  of  the  Senate.  I  learned  then  to  admire  him,  although  I  did  not  fully  agree 
with  him.  He  then,  sir,  led  the  army  of  liberty  in  this  country.  He  was  its  leader 
in  the  Senate,  its  leader  everywhere ;  as  its  orator,  as  its  advocate,  as  the  man  who 
advanced  opinions,  as  the  man  who  went  far  in  advance  and  beckoned  to  others  to 
come  forward  with  him  and  give  liberty  to  all  the  people  of  this  country.  During 
the  terrible  war  through  which  we  have  passed  he  was  one  of  the  great  leaders  in 
the  Senate.  Through  all  our  trials  and  difficulties,  through  our  misfortunes  and  our 
triumphs,  he  stood  at  the  head  of  the  men  in  favor  of  liberty  in  the  land.  When 
this  administration  came  into  power  he  still,  as  the  great  debater,  as  the  great  states¬ 
man  in  the  land,  stood  at  the  head  of  all. 

So  General  Logan  spoke  of  Charles  Sumner;  and,  so  feeling,  he 
could  not  consent  to  witness  the  humiliation  of  him  who  had  stood 


92  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

on  the  advanced  outpost  of  liberty  and  aroused  public  thought  and 
quickened  public  conscience  in  favor  of  freedom  for  all  men.  His . 
sense  of  justice  was  very  strong  and  very  deep;  his  convictions  of 
fair  play  were  of  the  kind  that  made  him  the  prompt  and  ready 
defender  of  those  who  were  to  be  dealt  with  unfairly.  He  was  always 
an  open  adversary;  he  never  fought  under  concealment;  he  never 
fought  in  darkness  or  in  ambush;  he  was  always  direct  in  his  methods, 
whether  in  war  or  in  peace,  and  “the  path  of  his  thought  was  straight, 
like  that  of  the  swift  cannomball,  shattering  that  it  may  reach,  and 
shattering  what  it  reaches.  ” 

Mr.  Speaker,  he  was  not  only  quick  to  defend  Charles  Sumner, 
but  he  was  as  prompt  to  defend  his  old  comrade  and  leader,  General 
Grant,  when  a  little  later  he  was  unjustly  (as  Logan  believed)  at¬ 
tacked  in  the  Senate,  and  the  warp  and  the  woof  of  the  thought  of 
his  defense  both  of  Sumner  and  of  Grant  is  exactly  the  same.  He 
puts  the  defense  of  both  upon  the  ground  of  what  they  have  done 
for  their  country.  In  defense  of  General  Grant  he  opened  with  this 
simple  but  pathetic  inquiry:  “What  has  the  tanner  from  Galena 
done  ?”  And  then,  answering  his  own  question,  he  said : 

He  has  written  his  history  in  deeds  which  will  live  so  long  as  pens  are  dipped  in 
ink,  so  long  as  men  read,  and  so  long  as  history  is  written. 

The  history  of  that  man  is  worth  something.  It  is  valuable.  It  is  not  a  history 
of  glittering  generalities  and  declamation  in  speeches,  but  it  is  a  history  of  great 
deeds  and  great  things  accomplished  for  this  country. 

He  reviewed  his  brilliant  achievements  at  the  head  of  the  W estern 
army,  and  said : 

General  Grant  was  then  brought  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  made  a  suc¬ 
cess,  he  won  the  battle,  victory  perched  on  our  banner,  we  succeeded,  slavery  was 
abolished,  and  our  country  saved. 

The  man  who  had  done  all  that,  Logan  said,  was  worthy  to  be 
commended,  not  condemned.  Then  he  made  a  most  telling  appeal 
to  his  associates  to  stand  by  the  great  captain  who,  at  the  head  of  a 
million  of  men,  had  made  perpetual  the  best  government  in  the 
world. 

Mr.  Speaker,  General  Logan’s  military  career,  standing  alone, 
would  have  given  him  a  high  place  in  history  and  a  secure  one  in 
the  hearts  of  his  countrymen.  General  Logan’s  legislative  career, 
standing  alone,  would  have  given  him  an  enduring  reputation,  asso¬ 
ciating  his  name  with  some  of  the  most  important  legislation  of  the 
time  and  the  century.  But  united,  they  present  a  combination  of 


93 


Address  of  Mr.  McKinley ,  of  Ohio. 

forces  and  of  qualities,  they  present  a  success  in  both  careers  almost 
unrivaled  in  the  history  of  men.  He  lived  during  a  period  of  very 
great  activities  and  forces,  and  he  impressed  himself  upon  his  age 
and  time.  To  me  the  dominant  and  controlling  force  in  his  life  was 
his  intense  patriotism. 

It  stamped  all  of  his  acts  and  utterances  and  was  the  chief  inspi¬ 
ration  of  the  great  work  he  wrought.  His  hook,  recently  published, 
is  a  masterful  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  the  people.  His  death,  so 
sudden  and  unlooked  for,  was  a  shock  to  his  countrymen  and  caused 
universal  sorrow  among  all  classes  in  every  part  of  the.  Union.  No 
class  so  deeply  mourned  his  taking  away  as  the  great  volunteer  army 
and  their  surviving  families  and  friends.  They  were  closely  related 
to  him.  They  regarded  him  as  their  never-failing  friend.  He  had 
been  the  first  commander-in-chief  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Repub¬ 
lic,  and  to  him  this  mighty  soldier  organization,  numbering  more 
than  four  hundred  thousand,  was  indebted  for  much  of  its  efficiency 
in  the  field  of  charity. 

He  was  the  idol  of  the  army  in  which  he  served — the  ideal  citizen 
volunteer  of  the  Republic,  the  pride  of  all  the  armies,  and  affection¬ 
ately  beloved  by  all  who  loved  the  Union. 

Honored  and  respected  by  his  commanders,  held  in  affectionate 
regard  by  the  rank  and  file,  who  found  in  him  an  heroic  leader  and 
devoted  friend,  he  advocated  the  most  generous  bounties  and  pen¬ 
sions,  and  much  of  this  character  of  legislation  was  constructed  by 
his  hand.  So  in  sympathy  was  he  with  the  brave  men  who  risked 
all  for  country  that  he  demanded  for  them  the  most  generous  treat¬ 
ment.  I  heard  him  declare  last  summer,  to  an  audience  of  10,000 
people,  gathered  from  all  sections  of  the  country,  at  the  annual 
encampment  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  at  San  Francisco, 
that  he  believed  that  the  Government  should  grant  from  its  over¬ 
flowing  treasury  and  boundless  resources  a  pension  to  every  Union 
soldier  who  was  incapable  of  taking  care  of  himself,  asserting  with 
all  the  fervor  of  his  patriotic  soul  that  the  Government  was  unworthy 
of  itself  and  of  the  blood  and  treasure  it  cost  which  would  permit  any 
of  its  defenders  to  become  inmates  of  the  poorhouses  of  the  land,  or 
be  the  objects  of  private  charity. 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  old  soldiers  will  miss  him.  The  old  oak  around 
whom  their  hearts  were  entwined,  to  which  their  hopes  clung,  has 
fallen.  The  old  veterans  have  lost  their  steady  friend.  The  Congress 


94 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


of  the  United  States  has  lost  one  of  its  ablest  counselors,  the  Repub¬ 
lican  party  one  of  its  confessed  leaders,  the  country  one  of  its  noble 
defenders. 


Address  of  Mr.  Randall,  of  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  I  sincerely  sympathize  with  the  State  of  Illinois 
and  the  entire  country  in  the  loss  to  the  public  councils  of  General 
John  A.  Logan,  whose  valor  and  skill  upon  the  battlefield  were  sup¬ 
plemented  and  rounded  out  by  a  career  of  great  usefulness  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  and  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 

He  was  a  child  of  the  people,  and  he  received  at  their  hands  almost 
every  honor  that  could  be  appropriately  bestowed.  He  was  a  fair 
and  complete  illustration  of  the  justice  and  the  resulting  strength  of 
our  form  of  government  in  this,  that  it  gives  to  the  worthy  and  indus¬ 
trious  citizen  an  opportunity  to  reach  the  highest  positions  known  to 
the  laws. 

The  records  of  our  public  men  are  the  indications  of  the  destiny 
of  our  country,  either  for  weal  or  woe.  They  represent  the  moral 
height  to  which  the  people  grew  in  their  time.  They  are  examples 
for  the  study  of  the  generations  which  are  to  follow  them. 

Therefore,  when  a  man  like  John  A.  Logan  passes  off  the  scene,  it 
is  our  grateful  duty  to  recall  every  act  of  his  which,  whether  in  the 
field  or  in  the  forum,  was  characterized  by  deep  conviction  and  by 
undoubted  moral  and  personal  courage. 

The  full  story  of  his  life  will  be  told  in  truthful  and  loving  words 
by  the  members  of  the  Illinois  delegation  and  by  his  political  friends 
on  this  floor ;  but  I  can  not  refrain  from  expressing  this  brief  tribute 
of  my  respect  to  the  memory  of  a  public  man  who  deserved  so  well 
of  his  country. 


Address  of  Mr.  Butterworth,  of  Ohio. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  The  time  accorded  me — ten  minutes — is  much  too 
brief  to  enable  me  to  even  glance  at  the  history  which  records  the 
grand  achievements  of  the  illustrious  dead  in  honor  of  whose  mem¬ 
ory  we  are  met.  John  A.  Logan  sleeps  with  his  fathers.  The  final 
audit  of  his  life’s  account  has  been  made  up. 

The  record  discloses  nothing  that  invokes  the  charity  and  shield  of 


ft 


Address  of  Mr.  Butterworth,  of  Ohio.  95 

the  maxim  which  constrains  us  to  “speak  nothing  but  good  of  the 
dead.”  No  friend  of  the  deceased  need  with  pen  or  speech  paint  an 
ideal  man  and  call  it  Logan.  His  name  and  fame  will  stand  the  test 
of  searching  scrutiny  conducted  in  the  light  of  truth.  That  Logan 
was  a  leader  among  men  is  conceded.  That  he  occupied  a  position 
of  commanding  influence  among  his  associates  in  public  life  and  in 
private  station  can  not  be  questioned.  To  what  he  owed  his  position 
as  a  leader,  what  elements  in  his  make-up  gave  him  commanding 
influence,  may  not  be  so  generally  recognized. 

He  was  a  strong  man  morally  and  mentally.  Not  intellectually 
great  nor  yet  equipped  with  that  rich  store  of  mental  furnishing  sup¬ 
plied  by  the  universities  which  enables  some  of  lighter  mental  caliber 
to  pass  current  before  the  world  as  profound  thinkers,  “men  of  pith 
and  moment.”  Logan  was  born  and  reared  on  the  frontier. 

The  strong  qualities  that  made  him  a  man  of  mark,  a  citizen  of 
controlling  influence,  were  inherent,  were  God-given,  not  acquired. 

They  were  not  the  result  of  training  in  the  schools,  nor  yet  due  to 
an  o\  ermastering  intellect.  If  upon  these  arsenals  alone  he  had  been 
compelled  to  rely  to  equip  himself  for  the  contests  in  which  he  was  to 
'  engage,  he  might  never  have  risen  above  the  dreary  level  of  plod¬ 
ding  mediocrity. 

Along  the  highway  of  his  public  career,  as  in  the  walks  of  private 
life,  he  daily  met  men  who  were  in  the  matter  of  sheer  intellectual 
endowments  his  superiors,  but  such  men  too  often  present  what 
Logan  did  not,  a  mere  accumulation  of  intellectual  power,  uncoupled, 
and  seemingly  not  capable,  by  reason  of  some  lack,  of  being  coupled 
to  useful  purpose  or  great  employment.  As  has  been  said,  in  the 
inventory  of  his  mental  outfit  there  could  not  be  found  that  wide 
range  of  learning  gathered  in  the  schools  which  men  on  every  side 
of  him  could  boast. 

In  fact  he  was  constantly  criticised  by  gentlemen  the  thin  and 
wasted  soil  of  wdiose  intellects  had  in  colleges  been  cultivated  to 
exhaustion  and  were  of  depth  so  shallow  that  an  idea  that  had 
strength  and  vigor  enough  to  require  a  tap-root  would  sicken  and 
die,  and  where  only  the  pinks  and  pansies  that  tend  merely  to  grace 
and  beautify  the  field  of  thought  and  action  could  be  sprouted. 

Let  it  not  be  inferred  that  he  despised  or  was  indifferent  to  ripe 
learning.  Far  from  it.  .In  just  appreciation  of  its  advantages  Logan 
gave  to  his  children  the  opportunities  of  collegiate  training  which 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

the  hard  lines  of  the  frontiersman  denied  to  their  father.  I  only 
meant  to  say  he  held  in  merited  contempt  mere  pedantic  criticism 
from  that — 

Set  Qf  dull,  conceited  hashes 

Who  confuse  their  brains  in  college  classes, 

Go  in  sterks  and  come  out  asses, 

Plain  truth  to  speak, 

And  hope  to  climb  the  steep  Parnassus 
By  dint  o’  Greek. 

In  judging  of  men  he  was  accustomed  to  scratch  through  the 
veneering  that  studied  polish  may  put  on,  and  ascertain  the  true 
quality  of  the  family  timber. 

No,  sir,  Logan  could  not  justly  claim  great  intellectual  superiority. 
He  had  not  the  grace  and  accuracy  of  diction  which  may  be  acquired 
in  the  halls  of  learning. 

What  made  this  man  a  leader  of  men  ?  What  gave  him  influential 
prominence  throughout  the  country?  It  was,  I  submit,  due  in  the 
main  to  the  inherent  qualities  of  heart  he  possessed ;  his  uncompro¬ 
mising  devotion  to  what  he  conceived  to  be  duty.  With  him,  be¬ 
tween  right  and  wrong,  there  was  no  middle  ground.  Between  right 
and  wrong  there  could  not  consistently  with  the  high  obligations  of 

»  r 

duty  be  any  compromise.  In  him  there  was  found  coupled  with  the 
unselfish  and  unequaled  zeal  of  a  Covenanter,  Calvinist  if  you  please, 
Ihe  chivalric  bearing  of  a  cavalier. 

He  was  of  the  material  of  which  martyrs  are  made.  If  a  sense  of 
duty  required,  he  would  have  suffered  at  the  stake  with  J olin  Rogers. 
And  by  the  same  token  he  might  not  have  been  seriously  troubled 
at  the  taking  off  of  Servetus.  John  A.  Logan’s  highest  ambition 
was  to  be  right.  His  stubborn  and  inflexible  will  anchored  him 
immovably  to  his  convictions.  Hence  he  never  drifted  and  never 
wavered. 

It  was  never  necessary  to  run  the  courses  and  measure  the  dis¬ 
tances  of  his  political  career  in  order  to  fix  his  position.  Once  estab¬ 
lish  the  base-line  of  right  and  you  could  find  Logan. 

To  Avhat,  to  him,  was  duty  he  was  as  constant  as  a  fixed  star  to  its 
course  in  the  heavens. 

Up  to  1861  he  was  a  Democrat  in  the  strictest  partisan  sense.  The 
Democratic  party  was  the  agency  through  which  all  great  good  to 
our  country  was  to  be  worked  out. 

The  party  horizon  came  down  all  around  him — he  could  not  or  did 


Address  of  Mr.  Butterwortli,  of  Ohio. 


97 


not  appear  to  see  beyond  it.  Then  came  a  time  when  that  too  narrow 
range  of  vision  was  extended.  The  veil  that  obscured  the  more 
enlarged  view  of  portentous  events  was  lifted  by  the  conflict  of  1861. 

Logan  stood  for  the  first  time  to  contemplate  what  stubborn  ad¬ 
herence  to  party  lines  meant.  He  saw  portending  in  the  near  future 
a  Constitution  overthrown  and  defied,  the  Union  dismembered,  a 
Government  disrupted  and  destroyed. 

From  that  moment  love  of  party  was  swallowed  up  in  love  of 
country.  His  duty  to  him  at  least  was  clear.  The  integrity  of  the 
Union,  the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution,  the  acknowledged  sover¬ 
eignty  of  the  flag  were  henceforth  to  him  above  all  else.  With  what 
uncompromising  zeal,  unselfish  devotion,  and  undaunted  heroism  he 
served  the  cause  of  his  country  in  the  field  and  in  the  councils  of  the 
nation  is  known  to  all  his  countrymen.  In  that  service,  as  in  all 
else,  Logan  refused  to  surrender  his  convictions  for  one  moment. 
His  stubborn  adherence  to  his  own  judgment  sometimes  made  him  a 
disagreeable  disputant.  He  would  be  inclined  to  consider  the  sound¬ 
ness  of  his  judgment  and  weigh  correctness  of  his  conclusions  unless 
the  integrity  of  one  or  both  was  called  in  question.  That  done,  with 
him  discussion  was  at  an  end;  thereafter  his  yielding  in  any  degree 
was  impossible,  as  he  deemed  the  slightest  concession  might  be  con¬ 
strued  into  admitting  a  trace  of  excuse  for  asserting  that  any  motive 
other  than  the  highest  good  controlled  his  action. 

The  Calvinistic  faith  of  his  mother,  the  stern  integrity  of  his  father 
blending  in  the  son  fitted  him  for  a  leader,  and  made  him  a  man 
whose  influence  could  not  but  be  healthful.  He  would  have  been 
Moreau  at  Hohenlinden,  but  was  incapable  of  being  Moreau  at 
Dresden.  He  would  have  led  at  Malvern  Hill,  and  marched  toward 
the  sound  of  the  cannon  and  the  rising  dust  of  battle  at  Bull  Run. 

He  was  ambitious  to  be  President,  but  in  the  pursuit  of  that 
worthy  ambition  he  never  practiced  the  small  arts  of  the  demagogue 
nor  resorted  to  the  tricks  which  mere  political  expediency  suggest. 
Such  an  example  and  illustration  of  worthy  political  ambition  may 
not  be  without  its  use  at  this  time. 

These,  in  my  judgment,  are  the  crowning  glories  of  Logan’s  char¬ 
acter  :  That  in  all  his  course  he  sought  “to  walk  in  the  light.” 
Inflexible  adherence  to  duty,  as  that  duty  was  revealed  to  him.  Incor¬ 
ruptible  integrity  in  every  field  of  action,  and  in  every  employment. 
Unselfish  devotion  to  country  and  friends. 

7  l 


98 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


These  attributes  of  his  character  shine  more  resplendent  now  that 
he  walks  no  more  among  us. 

He  seemed  not  to  have  lived  the  time  allotted  to  man.  But  if  his 
last  ambition  was  not  gratified,  it  can  truly  be  said  that  his  fondest 
hopes  were  realized  in  having  lived  to  see  the  supremacy  of  the  flag 
established  and  recognized  throughout  all  our  borders,  the  Union 
restored,  and  the  Republic  he  so  loved  and  served  occupying  the 
proud  position  of  “first  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.” 


Address  of  Mr.  Henderson,  of  Iowa. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  The  nation  lingers  by  the  grave  of  Logan  !  His 
funeral  sermon  has  been  preached  in  the  presence  of  the  people  and 
by  his  coffin,  but  that  was  not  enough  for  his  memory.  Every 
church,  every  post  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  the  United 
States  Senate,  the  House  of  Representatives,  nearly  every  home  and 
every  heart  in  this  great  land  have  offered  tributes  to  the  memory 
of  this  mighty  fallen  chief. 

Weeks  have  passed  since  the  bells  of  the  nation  tolled  him  to  rest, 
and  yet  the  people  remain  uncovered. 

It  is  no  common  man  whose  fall  shocks  sixty  millions  of  people. 

I  come  to  the  sad  duty  of  this  hour  not  to  speak  for  others,  but  to 
render  the  heart  offerings  of  a  comrade  and  a  friend. 

A  GREAT  SOLDIER. 

We  first  naturally  think  of  General  Logan  as  a  soldier.  So  strong 
was  he  at  every  post  of  duty  that  history  must  hesitate  to  pronounce 
upon  him  as  the  greater  soldier  or  the  greater  statesman. 

Though  not  trained  to  arms,,  he  was  a  great  soldier.  The  volun¬ 
teers  with  one  voice  claim  this.  The  leading  generals  of  the  country, 
those  schooled  for  war,  admit  it. 

He  fought  as  one  who  ever  kept  in  mind  the  great  cause  that  called 
him  to  the  field. 

If  true  of  any  man,  it  can  be  said  that  danger  and  death  had  no 
terrors  for  Logan. 

Restless  when  the  enemy  was  afar,  he  became  eager  and  fired  by 
the  approach  of  battle  and  a  consuming  whirlwind  when  the  charge 
was  sounded. 


99 


Address  of  Mr.  Henderson,  of  Iowa. 

His  presence  drove  fear  from  the  hearts  of  the  soldiery.  He  was 
inspiring,  fearless,  conquering. 

The  tumult  of  battle  and  the  roar  of  cannon  made  him  the  impe¬ 
rial  personification  of  a  great  fighter. 

In  thinking  of  Logan  as  a  soldier,  forget  not  his  greatest  attribute 
— not  for  ambition  did  he  draw  his  sword,  but  for  his  country  and 
all  his  countrymen. 

A  GREAT  STATESMAN. 

But  few  men  combine  the  qualities  of  a  great  soldiei*  and  a  great 
statesman — Logan  was  both.  The  courage  and  wisdom  needed  for  a 
great  statesman  are  of  a  higher  order  than  the  courage  and  wisdom 
needed  by  a  great  commander.  It  requires  a  higher,  mightier  courage 
to  face  and  control  a  sweeping  Niagara  of  popular  thought  than  it 
does  to  face  death  or  command  an  army  of  men.  Logan  was  one  of 
the  few  men  of  his  time  who  combined  both  essentials  for  these  high 
trusts.  Most  statesmen,  like  some  generals,  follow  their  forces.  The 
great  statesman,  like  the  great  general,  must  lead.  On  any  field 
Logan  was  “a  born  leader  of  men.*’  On  both  fields  he  kept  close  to 
the  people.  He  was  earnest,  approachable,  courtly,  chivalrous.  He 
was  intellectual,  thoughtful,  studious,  and  independent.  He  was 
tenacious,  stubborn,  untiring,  honest.  He  would  strike  back  if 
attacked,  and  strike  at  once,  and  his  blow  would  be  remembered. 
He  was  sensitive  as  a  child,  but  generous  as  a  mother.  He  was 
eloquent  and  profound.  His  range  of  vision  and  sweep  of  thought 
took  in  the  whole  country.  He  was  a  strong  partisan,  but  a  stronger 
American.  He  had  peers  as  a  statesman,  but  not  one  that  could 
look  down  upon  him. 

A  MAN  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

He  was  a  man  of  the  people  in  an  eminent  degree.  His  devotion 
to  them  was  as  sincere  as  was  their  love  for  him.  He  was  too  big  a 
man  to  be  cramped  or  disturbed  by  the  arbitrary  laws  of  society,  as 
made  up  by  the  rich  and  those  who  talk  of  “family”  and  “blood”; 
but  he  was  most  at  home  with  those  of  simple  manners,  free  from  the 
conventionalities  that  grow  like  weeds  about  the  homes  of  wealth. 

Seldom  did  wealth  support  the  career  of  Logan.  It  was  the 
people  who  followed  him  from  obscurity  to  the  Senate. 

But  few  men  come  out  of  the  trying,  cruel,  searching  conflict  of  a 
national  campaign  stronger  than  when  they  enter  it.  This  John  A. 


100 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Logan  did  in  1884.  When  nominated  his  party  knew  him  to  he 
strong  with  the  people,  hut  the  great  strength  and  popularity  that 
he  developed  was  a  surprise  to  his  party.  In  the  moment  of  his  de¬ 
feat  he  was  greater  than  he  who  wore  the  laurel. 

It  was  in  the  country  at  large  as  in  my  own  State  in  1884.  His 
passage  through  Iowa  was  a  triumphal  march,  and  his  pathway 
could  he  traced  by  the  surging,  shouting  masses  of  the  people. 

The  historians  will  tell  of  General  Logan  and  of  Senator  Logan, 
but  the  living  will  remember  him  as  the  “Black  Eagle,”  “Black 
Jack,”  and  “  Hon^t  John. 

He  was  an  open,  honest,  brave,  powerful  tribune  of  the  people. 
He  was  one  of  the  great  commoners  of  his  time. 

THE  SOLDIER’S  FRIEND. 

He  was  a  warm,  true  friend  of  the  old  soldier.  No  soldier  from 
any  part  of  the  Union  with  a  just  claim  for  help  ever  appealed  to 
him  in  vain.  He  knew,  and  never  forgot,  what  they  had  done  and 
suffered  for  the  country.  The  fact  that  the  money  centers,  most 
benefited  by  his  comrades’  blood,  were  daily  turning  a  colder  face 
and  a  tighter  hand  to  the  old  veterans  enraged  him.  God  grant 
that  his  holy  indignation  may  survive  him!  He  resolved  all  doubts 
in  favor  of  the  soldier,  and  entertained  no  doubts  for  the  helpless 
ones  that  the  dead  comrade  left  with  his  country.  As  a  powerful, 
kind,  untiring  friend  of  his  old  comrades  he  had  no  equal,  and  no 
man  can  wear  his  mantle. 

You  need  not  seek  a  burial  spot  for  John  A.  Logan.  He  is 
buried  in  and  can  not  be  removed  from  the  warm,  loving  hearts  of 
his  old  comrades  in  arms, 


Address  of  Mr.  Holman,  of  Indiana. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  The  pen  of  history  can  only  do  justice  to  so  great 
a  record  as  that  which  John  A.  Logan  has  bequeathed  to  his  coun¬ 
try.  W e  can  pay  on  an  occasion  like  this  only  a  brief  tribute  to  his 
memory.  Other  gentlemen  have  spoken  not  only  of  the  public  record 
in  civil  life  but  of  the  great  military  career  of  this  distinguished  cit¬ 
izen  in  very  fitting  language.  I  can  not  permit  this  occasion  to  pass 
without  at  least  adding  a  word  to  the  record  of  this  memorial  service 
in  honor  of  the  dead  statesman  and  military  chieftain. 


101 


Address  of  Mr.  Holman,  of  Indiana. 

John  A.  Logan  came  into  this  Hall  as  a  member  of  the  House  at 
one  of  the  most  anxious  periods  of  our  history,  the  beginning  of  the 
Thirty-sixth  Congress.  It  was  a  period  of  disquietude,  a  vague  and 
undefined  belief  was  stealing  into  the  minds  of  all  men  that  the  tre¬ 
mendous  issue  which  for  half  a  century  statesmanship  had  held  sus¬ 
pended  was  demanding  a  decision  in  a  voice  too  loud  and  imperative 
to  admit  denial.  The  hour  of  revolution  was  at  hand  !  While  not 
taking  an  active  part  in  current  business  of  the  House,  John  A. 
Logan  displayed  from  the  beginning  qualities  and  powers  that  gave 
promise  of  the  great  career  in  civil  and  military  life  which  he  was 
destined  to  complete.  The  State  of  Illinois  was  then  represented  in 
the  House  and  Senate  by  an  unusually  able  body  of  men.  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  and  Lyman  Trumbull  were  Senators  ;  Washburn,  after¬ 
wards  so  distinguished  in  this  House  and  later  as  our  minister  to 
France  during  the  war  between  France  and  Germany  ;  Lovejoy,  the 
greatest  of  the  anti-slavery  leaders  of  the  Northwest.  McClernand, 
Farnsworth,  Fouke,  Kellogg  Morris,  and  Robinson,  were  his  col¬ 
leagues  in  the  House — a  very  strong  body  of  men.  All  of  them  were 
either  then  men  of  national  reputation  or  afterwards  achieved  dis¬ 
tinction  in  civil  or  military  life.  McClernand,  Farnsworth,  and 
Fouke  won  distinction  in  the  Union  Army  ;  and  yet  with  such  col¬ 
leagues  John  A.  Logan  was  a  striking  feature  of  the  House  from 
the  time  he  took  the  seat  where  my  friend  [Mr.  Eden]  now  sits. 
His  manly  deportment,  the  fire  and  vigor  of  his  occasional  remarks, 
the  resoluteness  of  his  purpose  as  expressed  in  every  gesture  of  his 
hand  and  tone  of  voice,  commanded  attention  and  gave  promise  of  a 
great  career  if  the  occasion  should  arise,  and  of  honorable  distinction 
under  any  conditions  of  human  life. 

John  A.  Logan  entered  this  Hall  in  the  flower  and  vigor  of  youth, 
in  a  house  composed  largely  of  young  men,  but  four  of  whom — two 
from  the  South  and  two  from  the  northern  section  of  the  Union — 
still  retain  seats  on  this  floor.  He  was  a  prominent  actor  in  the  House 
from  the  beginning.  He  was  the  highest  type  of  a  strong,  positive, 
rugged,  fearless  man,  whose  opinions  were  absolute  convictions,  con¬ 
trolling  and  mastering.  As  a  politician  and  partisan  he  neither  gave 
nor  asked  quarter.  He  had  been  educated  in  a  school  of  politics 
where  devotion  to  the  Union  of  the  States  and  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  was  paramount  to  all  else  ;  and  impressed  with 
the  belief  that  the  Union  could  only  be  maintained  by  guaranteeing 


102  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

to  every  State  of  the  Union  the  absolute  and  exclusive  right  to  con¬ 
trol  its  own  domestic  institutions,  he  resented  with  fiery  indignation 
any  intermeddling  of  the  citizens  of  one  State  with  the  local  institu¬ 
tions  of  another,  and  saw  in  the  ascendency  of  his  own  political 
party  the  only  safety  for  the  Union  of  the  States.  To  him  the  Union 
of  the  States  was  the  fortress  of  free  institutions,  and  at  every  hazard 
it  must  be  maintained. 

He  never  hesitated  in  the  expression  of  his  political  opinions,  and 
they  were  not  modified  during  his  service  in  the  Thirty-sixth  Congress 
or  the  short  called  session  of  the  Thirty-seventh  Congress,  which  met 
on  the  4th  day  of  July,  1861,  and  yet,  I  think,  it  was  manifest  when 
Congress  met  in  the  month  of  December,  1860,  that  if  what  all  men 
feared,  and  yet  no  man  expressed,  should  fall  upon  the  country — the 
horrors  of  civil  war — that  the  force  of  opinion  which  had  committed 
him,  in  common  with  the  great  party  of  the  North  with  which  he  was 
then  identified,  to  the  policy  I  have  mentioned,  would  impel  him,  if 
war  only  could  maintain  the  Union,  to  accept  the  appeal  to  arms 
without  hesitation  whatever  might  be  the  result.  If  the  Union  could 
not  be  maintained  by  the  sweet  influences  of  peace,  it  must  be  main¬ 
tained  by  war. 

He  would  have  preserved  the  Union  by  compromise,  by  concessions. 
He  indorsed  cordially,  as  I  believe,  not  simply  by  his  vote,  but 
cordially  and  earnestly,  the  declaration  submitted  to  the  House  by 
John  J.  Crittenden  on  the  22d  day  of  July,  1861,  declaring  the  objects 
of  the  war,  and  did  not  modify  his  views  upon  that  subject  during 
that  session  of  Congress,  and  before  the  next  session  he  had  entered 
upon  his  great  career  in  the  Union  Army.  But  “  Avar  legislates  ”  and 
remolds  and  revolutionizes  public  opinion.  Great  public  disorders 
which  shake  the  foundations  of  government  have  a  mighty  mastery 
over  the  opinions  of  men.  I  am  satisfied  that  General  Logan  did 
not  at  any  time  hesitate  in  his  devotion  to  the  Union,  hostile  as  he 
was  to  the  principles  of  the  great  party  which  obtained  control  of 
the  Government  in  1860.  No  matter  Avhat  party  was  in  power,  he 
was  for  the  Union. 

A  meeting  was  held  in  this  Capitol  in  the  month  of  December, 
1860.  Most  of  the  Democrats  of  the  Senate  and  House  from  the 
northern  section  of  the  Union  Avere  present,  to  discuss  the  pending 
perils  of  the  country.  John  A.  Logan  and,  I  think,  all  of  his  col¬ 
leagues  were  present.  Opinions  were  freely  expressed.  When  it 


Address  of  Mr.  Holman,  of  Indiana. 


103 


came  to  the  question  of  what  should  he  done  in  the  event  that  the 
Union  should  he  threatened  and  the  calamity  of  war  come  upon  us,  one 
of  the  most  outspoken  champions  of  the  Union  was  John  A.  Logan. 
He  did  not  hesitate  in  the  declaration  of  his  opinion.  In  any  emer¬ 
gency,  whatever  should  he  the  result  to  the  institutions  of  the  States, 
the  Union  must  he  maintained.  Yet  he  spoke  as  a  Democrat,  with 
no  attempt  to  conceal  his  hostility  to  the  party  soon  to  enter  upon  . 
the  control  of  the  Government. 

When  at  a  subsequent  period  he  became  convinced  that  the  Union 
could  not  he  restored  with  African  slavery,  that  its  continued  exist¬ 
ence  would  he  ultimately  fatal  to  our  free  institutions)  he  freely 
avowed  his  opinions.  He  returned  to  this  House  after  the  close  of 
the  war  firmly  impressed  with  the  belief  that  every  vestige  of  slavery 
should  be  wiped  out  and  that  the  policy  of  the  party  which  controlled 
the  Government  during  the  war  could  alone  secure  the  peace  and 
safety  of  the  Union,  and  with  unfaltering  fidelity  adhered  to  the 
fortunes  of  that  party  up  to  the  hour  of  his  death. 

I  believe  General  Logan,  while  a  member  of  the  House,  and  before 
he  resigned  his  seat  here  to  take  command  in  the  Army,  did  not  make 
a  definite  expression  of  opinion  on  the  questions  of  the  pending  war. 
Perhaps  no  opportunity  occurred  when  his  views  could  be  definitely 
expressed;  but  I  think  I  am  justified  in  saying  that  General  Logan 
fully  accepted  the  views  of  his  political  friends  of  the  North,  and 
stood  by  them  while  he  remained  a  member  of  the  House  and  before 
entering  the  Army,  and  that  the  school  of  politics  in  which  he  was 
educated  and  the  principles  of  public  policy  he  had  adopted  led  him 
and  them  to  but  one  result— the  Union  must  be  maintained,  if  not  by 
peace,  by  the  dread  alternative  of  war. 

General  Logan  and  all  of  his  Democratic  colleagues  of  the  Thirty- 
sixth  Congress  were  devoted  friends  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  They 
accepted  his  political  views  without  question.  They  stood  by  him 
without  faltering.  They  had  come  into  the  House  through  that  great 
contest,  to  which  reference  has  been  made,  between  the  two  great 
leaders,  Douglas  and  Lincoln.  When  war  became  inevitable  it  is 
well  known  that  Mr.  Douglas  promptly  gave  assurance  to  his  great  and 
successful  rival — then  President  of  the  United  States  that  in  a 
war  for  the  Union  the  administration  should  have  his  undivided  sup¬ 
port.  It  was  also  in  perfect  harmony  with  General  Logan’s  opinions 
and  character,  and  his  devotion  to  that  great  statesman,  that  he 


104 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


should  espouse  with  his  whole  soul  the  cause  of  the  Union.  General 
Logan  was  a  man  in  many  respects  of  the  same  type  with  Mr. 
Douglas;  both  were  devoted  friends  of  their  country,  firm,  confident, 
and  fearless.  When  war  was  inevitable,  the  declaration  of  Mr. 
Douglas  of  his  purpose  to  stand  by  the  Union  at  every  hazard  thrilled 
the  country  and  animated  his  friends.  General  Logan  and  most 
of  his  immediate  associates  adopted  at  an  early  moment  the  same 
patriotic  policy. 

I  have  not  spoken  of  the  military  career  of  General  Logan.  It  has 
been  well  presented  by  others — his  associates  in  arms.  It  is  of  itself 
a  great  and  commanding  record.  I  have  only  referred  to  General 
Logan  in  his  earlier  relations  to  public  life.  While  it  may  not  be 
claimed  perhaps  that  in  intellectual  power  and  attainments  he  is  to 
be  classed  as  one  of  the  great  statesmen  of  our  country,  yet  there 
were  qualities  of  true  greatness  in  General  Logan  that  cannot  be 
questioned;  his  achievements,  both  in  civil  and  military  affairs,  make 
him  a  great  character  in  our  history.  The  rugged,  fearless  posi¬ 
tiveness  of  his  character,  his  indomitable  strength  of  will,  his  manly 
integrity,  made  him  a  great  man.  He  had  the  qualities  that  gather 
large  bodies  of  men  around  a  leader.  His  friendships  were  strong 
and  warm.  He  did  not  shrink  from  his  enemies.  No  man  ever  had 
more  devoted  friends,  or  those  who  would  make  greater  sacrifices  to 
advance  his  interests. 

In  the  judgment  of  the  present  generation  General  Logan  has 
made  a  great  record  both  in  civil  and  military  life,  in  statesmanship 
as  well  as  in  the  field.  That  judgment,  we  may  confidently  believe, 
will  be  confirmed  by  impartial  history.  He  will  occupy  a  large  space 
in  the  history  of  our  country.  To  the  generations  that  are  coming 
he  will  be  a  grand  type  of  American  manhood ;  his  name  —  a  syno¬ 
nym  of  patriotism  and  honor  — 

One  of  the  few,  the  immortal  names, 

That  were  not  born  to  die. 


Address  of  Mr.  Springer,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  In  the  language  of  the  resolution  now  pending, 
the  ordinary  business  of  legislation  is  suspended  that  the  friends 
and  associates  of  the  deceased  Senator,  John  A.  Logan,  may  pay 
fitting  tribute  to  his  public  and  private  virtues.  In  the  brief  time 


105 


Address  of  Mr.  Springer,  of  Illinois. 

allowed  it  will  be  impossible  to  even  allude  to  the  many  important 
acts  of  his  busy  and  eventful  life.  Much  has  been  said  in  the  press, 
in  the  Senate  Chamber,  and  in  public  meetings  held  all  over  the 
country  since  his  death  in  reference  to  his  character  and  public 
services.  I  feel  that  I  can  scarcely  add  anything  of  interest  on  this 
occasion. 

I  saw  him  for  the  first  time  in  January,  1857,  just  thirty  years 
ago.  He  was  then  a  member  of  the  house  of  representatives  of  the 
State  of  Illinois,  and  I  was  a  student  at  Illinois  College,  at  Jackson¬ 
ville.  I  had  visited  Springfield  to  witness  the  inauguration  of  Gov. 
William  H.  Bissell.  When  I  entered  the  legislative  hall,  ihe  youth¬ 
ful  and  impetuous  Logan  was  speaking.  He  at  once  arrested  my 
attention.  I  have  never  forgotten  the  scene.  There  was  a  great 
interest  manifested,  and  party  spirit  ran  high.  He  seemed  to  move 
upon  his  political  foes  as  if  charging  an  enemy  upon  a  field  of  battle. 
His  speech  occupied  two  days  in  delivery,  and  in  severity  of  lan¬ 
guage  and  vehemence  of  manner  excelled,  perhaps,  all  other  efforts 
of  his  life.  He  was  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  Democratic  party  in 
the  legislature  and  had  been  selected  by  his  friends  as  the  orator 
for  the  occasion. 

Governor  Bissell  had  been  a  prominent  Democrat,  but  had  differed 
with  his  party  on  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  bills,  and  became  the 
candidate  of  the  Republicans  for  governor,  and  was  elected.  He  was 
a  man  of  great  ability,  and  his  candidacy  had  resulted  in  a  political 
campaign  of  unprecedented  acrimony  and  bitter  invectives.  The 
heated  discussions  before  the  people  were  carried  into  the  legisla¬ 
ture.  When  the  motion  was  made  to  print  20,000  copies  of  Gov¬ 
ernor  Bissell’s  message,  Logan  moved  to  amend  so  as  to  provide  for 
printing  but  half  the  usual  number.  The  debate  lasted  more  than 
a  week,  and  was  one  of  the  most  memorable  ever  witnessed  in  the 
State,  which  is  noted  for  great  political  contests. 

The  body  was  Democratic,  and  Logan’s  motion  prevailed.  From 
that  time  forward  his  reputation  as  a  party  leader  was  established. 
During  the  thirty  years  which  have  elapsed  he  has  occupied  a  prom¬ 
inent  position  in  State  and  national  affairs.  He  passed  at  once  from 
the  arena  of  State  politics  to  the  councils  of  the  nation.  He  was 
elected  a  Representative  in  Congress  from  the  ninth  Congressional 
district  in  1858,  receiving  15,878  votes  while  his  opponent,  Daniel  L. 
Phillips,  received  but  2,796.  The  political  contest  of  that  year,  1858, 


106 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


was  one  memorable  in  the  history  of  Illinois,  and  provoked  the  live¬ 
liest  interest  throughout  the  whole  country. 

It  was  during  this  campaign  that  the  joint  debates  between  Abra¬ 
ham  Lincoln  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas  occurred,  the  result  of  which 
was  the  re-election  of  Douglas  to  the  Senate  and  the  election  of  Lin¬ 
coln  to  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States.  In  this  great  contest 
Logan  was  a  conspicuous  figure  and  one  of  the  staunchest  supporters 
of  Senator  Douglas.  In  1860  Logan  was  a  candidate  for  re-election 
and  his  growing  popularity  was  evinced  by  the  increased  vote  he 
received,  namely,  20,863,  while  his  opponent  received  but  5,207  votes. 
He  resigned  his  seat  in  Congress  in  1861,  and  entered  the  army  as 
colonel  of  an  Illinois  regiment. 

By  regular  promotions  for  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  he 
reached  the  rank  of  major-generaL  His  military  record  is  one  of 
the  most  brilliant  of  the  late  war.  Had  he  been  educated  at  West 
Point  and  thus  relieved  from  the  prejudice  which  existed  in  the  reg¬ 
ular  Army  against  volunteer  generals,  there  is  little  doubt  that  he 
would  have  risen  to  the  chief  command  of  the  Army.  But  he  did 
not  need  the  training  and  learning  of  West  Point  to  make  him  a 
soldier.  He  was  a  born  soldier.  His  practical  training  as  a  soldier 
in  the  Mexican  war,  and  his  careful  study  of  military  history  and 
the  science  of  war  had  peculiarly  fitted  him  for  a  great  military 
leader.  He  could  not  only  command  men,  but  he  could  obey  the 
commands  of  his  superiors.  He  believed  in  military  discipline. 

When  General  Sherman  denied  him  the  command  of  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee  before  Atlanta,  a  position  which  his  skill  and  bravery 
had  won  for  him,  he  cheerfully  submitted  and  urged  his  friends  to 
make  no  complaints  or  protests.  I  can  not  follow  him  in  all  his 
battles  during  the  long  and  eventful  war.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  he 
shrank  from  no  hardship,  he  feared  no  danger,  he  faltered  in  noth¬ 
ing.  Beloved  by  his  men,  and  respected  by  his  fellow-officers,  he 
won  the  admiration  of  the  people,  and  his  memory  will  be  cherished 
by  his  countrymen  for  all  time  to  come. 

He  was  a  careful  student  of  military  history.  Those  whose  pleas¬ 
ure  it  was  to  converse  with  him  were  struck  with  his  wonderful 
fund  of  information  in  regard  to  the  events  of  the  war.  He  could 
readily  point  out  the  positions  of  the  opposing  forces  in  every  battle 
during  the  late  war.  He  could  give  the  numbers  and  regiments  en¬ 
gaged  in  every  important  battle,  and  indicate  the  casualties  on  either 


Address  of  Mr.  Springer ,  of  Illinois. 


107 


side.  He  frequently  conversed  after  the  close  of  the  war  with  the 
leaders  in  the  confederate  army,  and  notably  with  General  Long- 
street,  with  whom  he  was  on  intimate  and  friendly  terms.  The  last 
book  he  ever  read  was  the  memoirs  of  General  Lee.  Much  of  these 
memoirs  were  read  to  General  Logan  by  his  secretary  during  his 
last  illness.  He  never  failed  to  detect  an  error  and  point  it  out  at 
the  time.  He  read  military  history  with  the  liveliest  interest.  In 
his  investigation  of  the  Fitz-John  Porter  case  he  carefully  read  and 
reread  every  scrap  of  testimony,  every  report,  and  all  contempora¬ 
neous  history,  in  order  to  completely  master  the  subject. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  again  re-elected  as  a  Representa¬ 
tive  in  Congress,  serving  in  the  Fortieth  and  Forty-first  Congresses. 
He  was  three  times  elected  a  United  States  Senator  from  the  State 
of  Illinois,  and  had  served  not  quite  two  years  of  his  last  term  when 
he  died.  His  career  as  a  statesman  is  scarcely  less  brilliant  than  that 
as  a  soldier.  His  was  a  busy  life.  Whether  in  war  or  in  peace,  he 
was  always  doing  something.  His  energy  and  power  of  endurance 
were  wonderful.  The  amount  of  mental  labor  which  he  performed 
was  enough  to  wreck  the  stoutest  physique.  In  his  Congressional 
duties  he  was  untiring  and  ever  vigilant.  His  correspondence  was 
enormous,  but  he  managed  to  give  attention  to  every  demand  upon 
him. 

The  soldiers  of  the  late  war  had  in  Senator  Logan  a  most  faithful 
and  devoted  friend.  They  never  appealed  to  him  in  vain.  They 
seemed  to  look  to  him  for  all  general  and  special  legislation  in  their 
behalf.  In  his  death  they  lost  their  ablest  advocate  and  truest  friend. 

I  leave  to  others  more  in  sympathy  with  his  political  views  than 
myself  to  speak  more  at  length  and  more  appropriately  of  his  pub¬ 
lic  record.  I  desire  to  refer  briefly  to  his  private  virtues. 

He  was  a  most  devoted  husband  and  father.  His  home  was  his 
place  of  greatest  happiness.  He  was  kind  to  his  wife,  indulgent  to 
his  children,  and  devoted  to  them  all.  His  domestic  life  was  a  model 
of  simplicity.  Freed  from  the  cares  of  official  duties,  he  hastened 
to  his  home,  always  to  receive  the  greetings  of  a  beloved  wife  and 
happy  children.  His  greatest  enjoyment  was  at  his  own  fireside, 
surrounded  by  his  friends.  Here  he  lost  all  of  the  cares  of  the  world, 
laid  aside  all  the  vexations  of  political  contests,  shut  out  the  pomp 
and  circumstance  of  official  station,  and  gave  himself  up  to  domestic 
affairs.  He  spent  his  evenings  at  home.  He  rarely  visited  the  clubs 


108  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

or  places  of  public  amusement.  His  family,  his  library,  and  fireside 
were  more  attractive  to  him  than  the  pleasures  of  the  outside  world. 

General  Logan’s  devotion  to  his  mother  and  family  was  a  marked 
characteristic.  Inheriting  his  father’s  warm  heart  and  dauntless 
courage  and  his  mother’s  unbending  dignity,  singleness  of  purpose, 
and  untiring  energy,  he  was  the  embodiment  of  the  finest  qualities 
that  go  to  make  up  a  truly  noble  character  and  one  worthy  of  emu¬ 
lation.  His  father  had  so  high  an  opinion  of  his  genius  and  ability 
that  he  said  in  his  will  that  he  left  “John  nothing,  as  he  knew  he 
would  succeed  in  life  and  carve  out  his  own  fortune.”  And  right 
well  did  he  fulfill  the  predictions  of  his  father.  His  powers  of  en¬ 
durance  were  marvelous  ;  his  sympathies  easily  touched. 

Once  during  Grant’s  administration  among  the  numbers  calling 
one  morning  for  help  from  General  Logan  to  procure  situations,  & c., 
was  a  little  boy  about  fourteen  years  old.  Upon  General  Logan 
saying  to  him,  “ My  boy,  what  can  I  do  for  you?”  he  replied,  “Gen¬ 
eral,  I  am  a  soldier’s  orphan,  and  I  wish  to  get  an  appointment  either 
as  midshipman  at  Annapolis  or  a  cadet  at  West  Point.”  The  general 
inquired,  “Who  have  you  to  indorse  you?  I  know  nothing  about 
you.”  The  boy  answered,  “I  have  only  my  father’s  record  in  the 
war  and  my  widowed  and  good  mother.  But,  general,  if  you  will 
do  this  I  will  surely  prove  worthy.  I  am  going  to  succeed  or  die.” 

The  general  told  the  boy  to  meet  him  at  the  White  House  the  fol¬ 
lowing  morning,  and  it  is  needless  to  add  the  boy  got  his  appoint¬ 
ment,  and  is  now  an  officer  in  the  Army.  The  boy’s  vim  and  honesty 
won  the  general’s  confidence  and  sympathy. 

Again,  one  morning  a  young  girl  presented  herself  with  the  num¬ 
bers  that  came  every  morning  during  General  Logan’s  whole  official 
life.  She  said:  “  General,  I  come  to  you  without  one  single  thing  to 
support  my  statements,  and  depending  solely  upon  your  kindness  and 
sympathy;  but  I  am  desperate.  My  mother  is  dying  of  consumption; 
she  formerly  worked  in  the  Printing  and  Engraving  Bureau  for  the 
support  of  herself,  my  little  brother,  and  myself;  but  she  has  been 
lying  for  weeks  near  death,  and  we  have  pawned  almost  everything 
to  get  her  medicine  and  food.  I  must  do  something,  frail  as  I  am, 
and  I  beg  you  to  help  me.  I  could  not  see  my  mother  die  and  not 
have  made  this  effort  to  help  her.  She  could  even  die  contented  could 
she  know  that  I  had  something  to  do  to  earn  something  for  brother 
and  myself.” 


4 


Address  of  Mr.  Springer ,  of  Illinois:  109 

The  general’s  great  eyes  filled  with  tears,  and  he  told  her  to  go  to 
the  Printing  Office  the  following  morning  and  he  hoped  he  could  get 
the  Public  Printer  to  give  her  work.  It  was  done,  and  that  frail  girl 
has  ever  since  earned  an  honest  living  for  that  brother  and  herself, 
having  laid  away  that  sainted  mother  soon  after  obtaining  her  posi¬ 
tion.  Among  the  first  floral  tributes  laid  upon  Logan’s  bier  one  bore 
the  modest  card  of  that  grateful  girl,  who  feels  that  in  Logan’s  death 
the  best  friend  of  the  unfortunate  had  gone  to  his  reward.  Aggres¬ 
sive,  intense,  and  relentless  in  the  discharge  of  every  duty,  justice 
was  so  ground  in  his  nature  that  it  could  not  be  warped  by  partisan¬ 
ship.  His  magnanimity  was  one  of  the  finest  traits  in  his  character — 
ever  ready  to  forgive  and  even  forget  an  injury.  Trustful  and  sin¬ 
cere  in  all  his  friendships  he  was  frequently  called  upon  to  regret  the 
bad  faith  of  those  he  trusted.  In  such  cases  he  grieved  as  if  death 
instead  of  treachery  had  robbed  him  of  his  friend. 

There  was  nothing  honorable  he  would  not  do  to  serve  those  who 
had  befriended  him.  But  when  those  whom  he  had  befriended 
turned  upon  him  or  betrayed  him  his  mortification  knew  no  bounds. 
Nothing  seemed  so  base  to  him  as  ingratitude.  This  he  felt  as  “  the 
most  Tin  kindest  cut  of  all.”  It  was  to  him  “  more  strong  than  traitors’ 
arms,”  and  “  quite  vanquished  him.”  Always. true  to  others,  he  ex¬ 
pected  and  exacted  fidelity  in  return. 

He  was  sensitive  to  public  criticisms.  His  last  days  were  rendered 
unhappy  and  his  ailments  undoubtedly  aggravated  by  newspaper  as¬ 
saults  upon  his  motives  and  official  conduct. 

When  one  reads  the  eulogies  pronounced  upon  his  life  and  character 
by  his  colleagues  in  the  Senate,  it  is  almost  incredible  that  such  a 
man  as  Logan  had  been  so  recently  subjected  to  such  cruel  assaults 
as  were  from  day  to  day  published  by  newspapers  having  large  cir¬ 
culation  and  great  powers  for  inflicting  wrong  and  blasting  reputa¬ 
tions. 

In  the  Senate,  on  the  9th  instant,  his  colleagues,  who  are  best  able 
to  speak  of  his  true  character  and  worth,  bore  testimony  to  his  public 
and  private  virtues. 

Senator  Cullom,  of  Illinois,  said: 

Mr.  President,  few  men  in  American  history  have  left  so  positive  an  impress  on 
the  public  mind  and  so  glorious  a  record  to  be  known  and  read  of  all  men  as  has 
General  Logan.  The  pen  of  the  historian  cannot  fail  to  write  the  name  of  Logan 
as  one  prominently  identified  with  the  great  movements  and  measures  which  have 
saved  the  Union  and  made  the  nation  free  and  great  and  glorious  within  the  last 
thirty  years. 


110 


Life  and  Character'  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Like  Lincoln,  his  heart  and  hands  were  ever  for  the  people.  He  came  up  from  the 
ranks  of  the  people,  believed  in  the  purity  and  integrity  of  the  masses,  and  was  al¬ 
ways  ready  and  eager  to  speak  for  them.  He  was  a  true  republican  and  believed 
firmly  in  republican  government.  He  despised  tyranny  in  all  its  forms  wherever 
he  found  it.  He  was  always  true  to  his  convictions  and  to  his  friends,  and  no  power 
or  influence  could  induce  him  to  forsake  either. 

Senator  Morgan,  of  Alabama,  said: 

He  was  a  true  husband,  a  true  father,  a  true  friend,  and  when  that  is  said  of  a  in  an, 
and  you  can  add  to  it  also  that  he  was  a  true  patriot,  a  true  soldier,  and  a  true  states¬ 
man,  I  do  not  know  what  else  could  be  grouped  into  the  human  character  to  make 
it  more  sublime  than  that. 

Senator  Edmunds,  of  Vermont,  said: 

His  was  the  gentlest  of  hearts,  the  truest  of  natures,  the  highest  of  spirits,  that 
feels  and  considers  the  weaknesses  of  human  nature  and  who  does  not  let  small 
things  stand  in  the  way  of  his  generous  friendship  and  affection  for  those  with  whom 
he  is  thrown.  And  so  in  the  midst  of  a  career  that  had  been  so  honorable  in  every 
branch  of  the  public  service,  and  with  just  ambitions  and  just  powers  to  a  yet  longer 
life  of  great  public  usefulness,  he  disappears  from  among  us — not  dead — promoted, 
as  I  think,  leaving  us  to  mourn,  not  his  departure  for  his  sake,  but  that  the  value 
of  his  conspicuous  example,  the  strength  of  his  conspicuous  experience  in  public  af¬ 
fairs,  and  the  wisdom  of  his  counsels  have  been  withdrawn. 

Senator  Manderson,  of  Nebraska,  said: 

He  originated  the  ever-beautiful  Memorial  Day  and  constantly  urged  its  observ¬ 
ance.  It  was  a  revelation  to  many  that  this  sturdy  soldier  should  have  conceived 
the  poetic  idea  that  the  graves  of  the  Union  dead  should  receive  their  yearly  tribute 
of  flowers.  The  thought  was  born  of  his  love  for  them.  There  was  much  that  was 
refined  beneath  the  bold,  frank  exterior. 

The  bravest  are  the  tenderest, 

The  loving  are  the  daring. 

A  friend  who  knew  him  well  writes  of  him  : 

“  His  domestic  life  was  an  exquisite  idyl.  It  was  fragrant  with  faith  and  tender¬ 
ness.  It  was  a  poem  whose  rhythm  was  never  marred.” 

Senator  Allison,  of  Iowa,  said: 

He  never  knowingly  did  an  injustice  to  his  associates,  and  if  he  found  that  he  had 
done  so  unconsciously,  he  was  swift  and  ready  to  make  reparation.  He  was  con¬ 
scientious  in  the  discharge  of  his  public  duties. 

In  his  death  the  nation  has  lost  one  of  its  ablest  counselors ;  his  comrades  in  the 
Army  one  of  then-  most  ardent  and  devoted  supporters  ;  we  in  this  Chamber  a  valued 
co-worker  and  friend. 

Senator  Hawley,  of  Connecticut,  said: 

He  was  generous,  he  was  frank,  he  was  tender.  Possibly  that  will  sound  strangely 
to  many  people  who  did  not  know  him  as  we  did.  He  had  as  tender  a  heart  as 
entered  these  doors.  He  was  one  of  the  bravest  men  physically  and  morally  that 
ever  lived.  He  was  a  brilliant  and  great  volunteer  soldier.  He  was  an  incorrupt¬ 
ible  citizen  and  legislator.  His  patriotism  was  unsurpassed  in  enthusiasm ,  intensity , 
and  faith. 

Senator  Spooner,  of  Wisconsin,  said: 

He  will  live,  sir,  in  the  hearts  of  men  until  the  history  of  his  time  shall  have  faded 
utterly  away.  With  each  returning  May,  wherever  there  is  a  soldier’s  grave  —  and 


Address  of  Mr.  Springer,  of  Illinois.  11 1 

where  is  there  not  a  soldier’s  grave?  —  the  people  now  living  and  those  to  come  after 
us  will  remember  the  name  of  Logan,  the  patriot,  soldier,  orator,  and  statesman, 
and  will  bring,  in  honor  of  his  memory,  the  beautiful  flowers  of  the  springtime  and 
the  sweet  incense  of  praise  and  prayer. 

Senator  Cockrell,  of  Missouri,  said: 

As  a  husband  and  father  he  was  devoted,  faithful,  tender,  loving,  and  warmly 
appreciative  of  the  boundless  love  and  undying  devotion  of  his  noble  wife  and  dutiful 
children.  As  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  he  was  “  not  ashamed 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ ;  for  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation  to  every  one  that 
believeth.” 

The  name,  the  fame,  the  life,  and  the  illustrious  and  successful  achievements  of 
General  Logan  are  now  the  common  heritage  of  our  great  country  and  people,  and 
will  be  cherished  and  remembered  by  the  px-esent  and  coming  generations. 

Senator  Frye,  of  Maine,  said: 

Mr.  President,  there  is  not  a  Senator  within  the  sound  of  my  voice,  and  there  are 
Senators  here  who  have  served  in  the  councils  of  the  nation  many  years  with  John 
A.  Logan,  who  ever  knew  him  to  hesitate  or  waver  in  or  shrink  from  any  expi-es- 
sion  of  opinion  as  to  any  subject  under  consideration,  who  ever  knew  him  to  avoid 
a  vote,  who  ever  suspected  him  of  taking  any  account  whatsoever  of  what  effect  his 
words  or  his  acts  would  have  upon  his  own  personal  or  political  fortunes.  There  is  not 
a  Senator  within  the  sound  of  my  voice  who,  when  Logan  had  expressed  his  opin¬ 
ions,  the  result  of  his  convictions,  ever  dreamed  that  he  was  not  entirely,  faultlessly 
sincere  in  the  expression. 

Senator  Plumb,  of  Kansas,  said  : 

Logan  fought  his  own  way,  won  his  own  victories,  made  his  own  fame  secure. 

Scrutinizing  the  list  of  those  who,  emerging  from  compai*ative  obscurity,  have 
contributed  the  noblest  service  to  the  Republic  and  made  themselves  a  record  for  im¬ 
mortality,  the  name  of  Logan  will  be  found  written  not  far  below  those  of  Lincoln 
and  of  Grant. 

Senator  Sabin,  of  Minnesota,  said  : 

An  inscrutible  Providence  has  removed  a  great  and  good  man,  and  the  memoi’ies 
which  cluster  about  his  name  as  a  member  of  this  body  are  so  fresh  and  personal  that 
we  can  scarcely  realize  the  great  loss  which  this  Senate  and  country  has  sustained ; 
but  his  useful  life  and  shining  example  are  left  to  guide  the  feet  of  coming  genera¬ 
tions. 

Senator  Palmer,  of  Michigan,  said  : 

Amid  the  many  heroic  figures  which  stand  out  on  the  luminous  background  of 
the  past  quarter  of  a  century  none  will  be  regarded  with  more  affection  and  interest 
than  that  sturdy  and  intrepid  form  portrayed  in  silhouette,  clear  cut  and  pronounced 
in  its  outlines  as  in  its  mental  traits. 

Happy  the  State  which  has  boirne  such  a  citizen.  Thrice  happy  the  people  who, 
appreciating  his  virtues,  shall  give  him  a  place  in  the  valhalla  of  her  heroes  for  the 
encouragement  and  inspiration  of  the  youth  of  the  future. 

Senator  Farwell,  of  Illinois,  said  : 

General  Logan  was  the  bravest  of  soldiers,  an  able  statesman,  and  an  honest  man. 

No  higher  tribute  can  be  paid  to  man  than  this,  and  this  is  the  offering  which  I 
bring.  The  late  President  of  the  United  States,  General  Grant,  said  to  me  that  he 
could  never  forget  General  Logan’s  great  services  to  his  country.  In  battle  always 
brave,  never  faltering,  always  ready, 

He  is  greatest  who  serves  his  country  best.  And  shall  we  not  class  him  as  one  of 
these? 


112 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Such  are  the  tributes  paid  Senator  Logan  by  those  who  knew  him 
best.  Such  testimonials,  coming  from  honorable  Senators  represent¬ 
ing  all  sections  and  political  parties,  will  form  the  aggregate  judg¬ 
ment  of  his  times  and  fix  the  estimate  in  which  he  will  be  held  by 
future  generations. 

One  would  have  supposed  that  a  Senator  from  a  great  State,  who 
had  been  prominently  before  the  public  for  thirty  years,  and  whose 
character,  as  set  forth  by  his  Senatorial  colleagues  and  associates, 
was  well  known  to  the  country  would  have  been  free  from  the  ordi¬ 
nary  abuse  and  reckless  denunciation  which  is  so  frequently  heaped 
upon  those  who  are  less  known  and  less  appreciated.  But  not  so. 

In  this  land  of  ours  which  boasts  the  freedom  of  the  press  as  one 
of  the  chief  characteristics  of  our  free  institutions  there  are  those 
who,  for  the  sake  of  publishing  sensational  matter,  or  to  gratify  dis¬ 
appointed  ambition, or  revenge  imaginary  neglect,  are  ready  to  assassi¬ 
nate  the  characters  of  the  purest  and  the  best  of  our  public  men.  But 
such  assaults  only  serve  to  attract  attention  to  the  baseness  of  their 
authors,  and  can  no  more  damage  the  character  of  a  man  like  Logan 
than  they  could  fix  a  stigma  upon  Lincoln  or  upon  Washington,  the 
father  of  his  country. 

Mr.  Speaker,  nothing  can  be  said  to  add  to  the  fame  or  greatness 
of  our  departed  friend.  His  work  is  done.  His  race  is  run.  He 
sleeps  the  sleep  that  knows  no  waking.  But  his  deeds  shall  live  after 
him.  Adown  the  pathway  of  time  coming  generations  will  read  of 
his  deeds  of  courage,  of  his  devotion  to  the  public  weal,  of  his  love 
for  his  mother,  his  wife,  his  children,  and  country,  and  wonder  as 
the  years  glide  by  whether  they  will  ever  behold  his  like  again. 


Address  of  Mr.  Adams,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  Logan  will  be  regarded  as  the  most  striking  figure 
of  our  civil  war.  He  was  the  greatest  of  the  Union  volunteers.  As 
such  he  will  stand  in  history.  As  such  he  will  be  eulogized  to-day. 
His  eulogy  perhaps  would  come  more  fittingly  from  his  comrades  in 
arms,  of  whom  there  are  many  in  this  House.  But  his  fame  belongs 
to  all  of  us  ;  and  each  of  us  who  knew  him,  either  in  the  army  or  in 
civil  life,  may  well  desire  to  pay  a  tribute  to  his  memory. 

It  might  not  be  appropriate  for  me  to  attempt  to  analyze  his  char¬ 
acter  as  a  military  commander.  That  he  was  great  in  tactics  or 


113 


Address  of  Mr.  Adams ,  of  Illinois. 

strategy,  I  know  too  little  of  tactics  or  strategy  to  say.  It  may  be 
that  his  military  career  does  not  afford  material  enough  to  enable 
even  a  military  critic  to  judge  whether  he  would  have  been  a  great 
commander  in  the  sense  in  which  Cromwell  and  Napoleon  were  great. 
His  military  fame  will  rest  and  rest  securely  on  other  grounds. 

He  was  the  loved  and  trusted  volunteer  leader  of  volunteers.  The 
citizen  soldiers  of  the  Northwest,  enlisted  in  a  war  for  the  preserva¬ 
tion  of  the  Union,  were  ready  to  follow  him  to  the  death,  because 
they  knew  that  his  courage,  like  theirs,  was  neither  contempt  of  life 
nor  disregard  of  danger,  nor  thirst  for  mere  military  glory.  It  was 
the  courage  of  patriotism,  not  less  ardent  because  thoughtful,  which 
places  the  life  of  the  citizen  at  the  service  of  the  State  in  peace  as 
well  as  in  war,  and  regards  military  service  only  as  a  part  of  that 
larger  service  which  the  citizen  owes  at  all  times  to  the  Republic 
which  shelters  him  and  his  children. 

41  Macaulay,  speaking  of  the  famous  army  of  the  Long  Parliament, 
says  : 

These  persons,  sober,  moral,  diligent,  and  accustomed  to  reflect,  had  been  in¬ 
duced  to  take  up  arms,  not  by  the  pressure  of  want,  not  by  the  love  of  novelty 
and  license,  not  by  the  arts  of  recruiting  officers,  but  by  religious  and  political 
zeal,  mingled  with  the  desire  of  distinction  and  promotion.  The  boast  of  the 
soldiers  was,  as  we  find  it  recorded  in  their  solemn  resolutions,  that  they  had  not 
been  forced  into  the  service,  nor  had  enlisted  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  lucre ;  that 
they  were  no  janizaries,  but  free-born  Englishmen,  who  had,  of  their  own  accord, 
put  their  lives  in  jeopardy  for  the  liberty  and  religion  of  England,  and  whose  right 
and  duty  it  was  to  watch  over  the  welfare  of  the  nation  which  they  had  saved. 

Suck,  in  the  main,  were  the  volunteers  of  our  civil  war,  and  such, 
in  a  high  degree,  were  the  regiments  of  the  Northwestern  States, 
who  made  up  the  famous  Fifteenth  Corps.  They  were  more  effective, 
perhaps,  as  a  military  force  under  the  command  of  Logan  than  they 
would  have  been  under  a  merely  professional  soldier.  They  recog¬ 
nized  in  him  not  merely  an  accomplished  commander,  but  a  fellow- 
citizen  and  a  friend,  whose  hopes,  feelings,  and  purposes  accorded 
with  their  own.  As  they  knew  that  he  would  spare  neither  them 
nor  himself  in  the  service  of  the  Union,  so  they  knew  that  he  would 
expose  them  to  no  unnecessary  danger,  nor  sacrifice  their  lives  to 
his  own  military  ambition.  Therefore  it  was  that  after  his  troops 
had  come  to  understand  his  character  as  a  commander,  a  regiment 
under  his  lead  seemed  sometimes  to  become  a  brigade,  a  brigade 
seemed  to  have  the  strength  of  a  division,  and  wheresoever  Logan 
thought  it  his  duty  to  lead,  15,000  thinking  bayonets  were  ready  to 

follow. 

8  L 


114  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

History  will  take  no  leaf  from  the  laurels  which  Logan  won  in 
the  civil  war,  "because  he  was  reluctant  to  believe  that  civil  war  was 
necessary.  No  man  can  impugn  his  patriotism,  because  at  the  time 
when  others  were  preparing  for  the  conflict  which  they  saw  was  in¬ 
evitable,  Logan  still  hoped  against  hope  that  some  form  of  com¬ 
promise  might  yet  take  away  the  bitter  cup  from  the  lips  of  the 
nation. 

Wendell  Phillips  said,  in  April,  1861 : 

Civil  war  is  a  momentous  evil.  It  needs  the  soundest,  most  solemn  justification. 
I  rejoice  before  God  to-day  for  every  word  that  I  have  spoken  counseling  peace, 
but  I  rejoice  also  with  an  especially  profound  gratitude  that  now,  the  first  time  in 
my  anti-slavery  life,  I  speak  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  welcome  the  tread  of 
Massachusetts  men  marshaled  for  war. 

It  was  not  given  to  all  in  those  dark  days  to  look  through  the 
rising  clouds  of  civil  war  and  see  in  the  clear  light  beyond  the  slaves 
enfranchised  and  the  Union  stronger  than  before  by  the  removal  of 
the  great  cause  of  difference  between  the  sections. 

It  was  not  given  to  Logan  to  see  this.  To  him  also  civil  war  was 
a  momentous  evil,  and  he  did  not  see  in  civil  war,  as  Wendell  Phil¬ 
lips  did,  a  possible  solution  of  the  slavery  question.  Till  the  clash 
of  arms  actually  came,  till  the  exultation  and  humiliation  of  a  great 
battle  had  inflamed  all  hearts,  he  thought  he  saw  only  a  minority  of 
secessionists  at  the  South  and  a  minority  of  abolitionists  at  the 
North  striving  to  kindle  their  own  frenzy  in  the  hearts  of  the  great 
majority  of  Union-loving  men  in  both  sections  of  the  country. 

You  gallant  Union  men  at  the  South — 

Said  he — 

who  are  standing  against  a  fierce  and  bitter  storm,  if  nothing  be  done  to  calm  it, 
and  you  are  hurled  over  the  precipice  into  the  deep,  yawning  gulf  of  disunion,  for 
your  heroic  stand  in  this  fearful  crisis  history  will  immortalize  your  names,  and 
your  children  will  read  with  illuminated  faces  the  faithful  sketch  of  your  patriotic 
devotion  to  your  country. 

Perhaps  we  must  admit  that,  for  months  after  the  fall  of  Fort 
Sumter,  Logan  doubted  whether  the  Union  could  be  restored  by 
force  of  arms.  He  had  said  so  in  Congress  : 

The  enforcement  of  the  law  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  will  not  cement  this 
Union  again,  it  will  not  make  us  friends,  nor  will  it  settle  the  slavery  question. 

He  probably  did  not  believe  that  the  North  would  endure  the  sac¬ 
rifices  of  a  long  war  ;  nor  did  he  believe  that  the  rebellion  would 
yield  without  a  desperate  struggle. 

To  him,  therefore,  the  actual  clash  of  arms  between  the  Union 


Address  of  Mr.  Adams,  of  Illinois. 


115 


and  the  rebel  forces  seemed  to  mark  the  beginning  of  an  eternal  es¬ 
trangement  between  the  North  and  South,  which  time  would  only 
embitter.  Influenced  as  he  was  by  forebodings,  felt  at  the  same 
time  by  thousands  of  others  in  all  sections  of  the  country,  it  was 
not  to  be  expected  that  he  should  give  a  cordial  support  to  the  war 
policy  of  the  Lincoln  administration. 

But  the  time  came  when  Logan’s  attitude  toward  the  administra¬ 
tion  of  Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  war  policy  changed  as  if  in  the  twink¬ 
ling  of  an  eye.  It  was  by  no  elaborate  course  of  reasoning  •  it  was 
by  a  sudden  flash  of  insight  that  he  saw  that  the  war  was  inevitable, 
and  that  the  North  was  resolved.  He  saw,  he  understood,  he  obeyed, 
as  unhesitatingly  as  did  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles  when  he  beheld 
the  great  light  that  shone  on  the  way  to  Damascus  and  heard  the 
voice  crying  “Saul!  Saul!” 

He  stood  one  morning  in  W ashington  and  saw  the  regiments  from 
the  Northwestern  States,  his  own. section  of  the  country,  march  by 
hifn  on  their  way  to  the  front  to  take  part  in  the  impending  battle 
of  Bull  Run.  The  sight  struck  home  upon  his  heart  and  his  under¬ 
standing  like  a  revelation  from  Heaven.  The  volunteers  of  Wis¬ 
consin  and  Minnesota  made  him  think,  perhaps,  of  the  volunteers 
of  Illinois,  then  far  to  the  front  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Perhaps 
he  thought  of  the  Mexican  war,  and  the  gallant  part  which  his  own 
State  had  borne  in  it ;  of  Shields  at  Cerro  Gordo ;  of  Bissell  and 
Hardin,  and  the  steady  valor  of  the  Illinois  line  when  they  faced  an 
enemy  for  the  first  time  on  the  plateau  of  Buena  Vista. 

In  these  raw  troops  now  marching  by,  fresh  from  the  farms  of 
Wisconsin  and  the  lumber  camps  of  Minnesota,  he  saw  the  loyal 
North  in  arms  resolved  to  maintain  the  Union,  and  he  now  knew, 
for  the  first  time,  that  the  only  way  to  enduring  peace  must  be 
hewed  with  the  sword. 

He  saw  his  own  duty  also.  He  could  thank  God,  as  Wendell  Phil¬ 
lips  had,  for  every  word  he  had  spoken  counseling  peace,  but  his 
heart  told  him  that  henceforth  the  only  place  of  honor  and  duty  for 
him,  the  only  place  where  his  spirit  could  be  at  peace  with  itself, 
would  be  in  the  camp,  or  on  the  march,  or  in  the  line  of  battle  with 
the  volunteers  of  Illinois. 

He  did  not  hesitate.  To  help  to  restore  the  Union  he  put  upon 
the  hazard  not  only  life  and  fortune  as  others  did,  but  what  was  per¬ 
haps  far  more  to  him.  his  darling  popularity. 


116  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

He  went  into  his  district.  He  made  as  brave  a  charge  upon  the 
prejudices  of  Southern  Illinois  as  he  ever  made  upon  the  confeder¬ 
ate  lines.  He  made  his  people  see  what  he  had  seen  on  that  July 
morning  in  Washington,  that  the  safety  of  the  great  Republic,  the 
freedom  and  happiness  of  millions  yet  unborn,  in  the  South  as  well 
as  in  the  North,  must  be  sought  by  the  dreadful  path  of  civil  war. 

Thus  the  first  service  which  Logan  rendered  in  the  war  for  the 
Union  was  a  victory  won  by  his  eloquent  tongue  before  he  had  drawn 
his  sword. 

The  very  men — 

Said  General  Grant — 

who  at  first  made  it  necessary  to  guard  the  roads  of  Southern  Illinois  became  the 
defenders  of  the  Union.  His  district,  which  at  first  had  promi  ed  to  give  such 
trouble  to  the  Government,  filled  every  call  made  upon  it  for  troops  without  resort¬ 
ing  to  the  draft.  That  Congressional  district  stands  credited  at  the  War  Department 
to-day  with  furnishing  more  men  for  the  Army  than  it  was  called  upon  to  supply. 

I  shall  not  try  to  recount  Logan’s  military  services  in  the  Union 
cause  during  the  next  four  years.  There  are  many  others  in  this 
House  more  competent  than  I  to  recall  the  history  of  those  stirring 
events,  of  which  they  were  themselves  a  part.  Let  me,  however, 
speak  of  that  one  of  his  many  victories,  the  glory  of  which,  brighter 
and  more  enduring  than  mere  military  renown,  he  does  not  share 
with  any  man,  or  regiment,  or  army  corps.  It  was  the  victory  which 
he  won  over  his  own  feelings  of  disappointment  and  personal  wrong 
when  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  was  taken  from 
him.  He  had  served  with  that  army  from  Belmont  to  the  Atlanta 
campaign.  He  had  risen  through  all  grades  from  colonel  to  corps 
commander.  He  had  taken  command  of  the  army,  as  General  Grant 
reminds  us,  in  the  midst  of  a  hotly  contested  battle.  His  glance,  his 
voice,  his  magnificent  bearing  had  infused  courage  and  discipline 
into  dispirited  and  retreating  troops. 

Under  the  influence  of  his  personal  presence  they  became  steady  in 
an  instant.  A  few  minutes  more  and  they  were  moving  to  victory 
like  one  of  Cromwell’s  brigades,  with  the  precision  of  machines,  and 
the  wild  fanaticism  of  crusaders.  At  Logan’s  call  they  pressed  for¬ 
ward  to  avenge  McPherson’s  death  with  such  impetuous  fury  that 
eight  thousand  of  the  enemy’s  dead  and  wounded  were  left  upon  the 
field.  Logan  had  fairly  won  the  right  to  command  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee.  When  this  command,  so  fairly  won,  so  eagerly  desired, 
was  taken  from  him,  merely  because  he  had  received  his  military 


117 


Address  of  Mr.  Adams,  of  Illinois. 

training  at  the  rude  hands  of  actual  war,  and  not  amid  the  sheltered 
walks  and  trim  lawns  of  a  military  academy,  his  patriotism  faltered 
indeed,  hut  it  did  not  fail.  He  was  tempted  to  resign  from  the  Army. 
What  West  Point  graduate  could  have  blamed  him  if  he  had  done 
so  ?  But  he  was  true  to  himself  and  to  the  Union  he  had  sworn  to 
defend.  Perhaps  he  remembered  the  words  he  had  spoken  in  1862  : 

I  have  entered  the  field  to  die  if  need  be  for  the  Government,  and  never  expect 
to  return  to  peaceful  pursuits  till  the  object  of  this  war  of  preservation  has  been  ac¬ 
complished. 

He  returned  to  the  command  of  his  army  corps.  By  his  indefati¬ 
gable  zeal  in  a  subordinate  position  he  gave  a  living  exaWple  of 
that  doctrine  of  military  fidelity  which,  many  years  afterward,  he 
was  to  urge  so  eloquently  in  the  Senate,  that  neither  personal  dis¬ 
like  nor  personal  disappointment  could  excuse  a  subordinate  officer 
either  for  disobeying  orders  or  for  slackness  in  obeying  them. 

Of  Logan  as  a  legislator  I  have  no  time  to  speak.  Faithful  as  he 
was  to  all  his  public  duties,  it  is  not  as  a  legislator  that  he  will  be 
remembered.  He  accomplished  much  in  Congress ;  but  if  he  had 
accomplished  more,  his  fame  would  still  rest  on  his  military  record, 
and  his  military  record,  for  this  generation  at  least,  is  written  not 
only  in  the  annals  of  the  campaigns  in  which  he  took  part  but  in 
the  hearts  of  tens  of  thousands  of  surviving  volunteers  of  the  war 
who  have  so  long  looked  up  to  him  as  the  bright  exemplar  of  their 
own  patriotism,  the  record  of  which  they  will  hand  down  as  an  hon¬ 
ored  heritage. to  their  children  and  their  children’s  children. 

One  trait  of  Logan’s  character  has  attracted  the  attention  of  all 
who  met  him  in  public  or  private  life.  He  was  a  sincere  and  de¬ 
voted  friend  of  his  friends,  and  he  was  not  the  secret  enemy  of  any 
man.  Open,  straightforward  sincerity  in  word  and  action  was  such 
a  prominent  characteristic  of  his  demeanor  toward  friend  and  enemy 
alike  that  we  may  not  unfairly  apply  to  him  the  description  which 
Clarendon  gives  of  the  great  Duke  of  Buckingham : 

His  kindness  and  affection  to  his  friends  was  so  vehement  that  it  was  as  so  many 
marriages  for  better  and  worse,  and  so  many  leagues  offensive  and  defensive,  as  if 
he  thought  himself  obliged  to  love  all  his  friends  and  to  make  war  upon  all  they 
were  angry  with,  let  the  cause  be  what  it  would.  And  it  can  not  be  denied  that 
he  was  an  enemy  in  the  same  excess,  and  prosecuted  those  he  looked  upon  as  his 
enemies  with  the  utmost  rigor  and  animosity,  and  was  not  easily  induced  to  a 
reconciliation.  And  yet  there  are  some  examples  of  his  receding  in  that  particular. 
And  in  the  highest  passion  he  was  so  far  from  stooping  to  any  dissimulation 
whereby  his  displeasure  might  be  concealed  and  covered  till  he  had  attained  his  re. 
venge  (the  low  method  of  courts),  that  he  never  endeavored  to  do  any  man  an  ill 
office  before  he  first  told  him  what  he  was  to  expect  from  him,  and  reproached  him 


118 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


with  the  injuries  he  had  done,  with  so  much  generosity,  that  the  person  found  it  in 

his  power  to  receive  further  satisfaction  in  the  way  he  would  choose  for  himself. 

• 

When  a  great  man  dies  in  the  maturity  of  his  intellectual  powers, 
before  he  has  even  reached  the  threshold  of  old  age,  we  are  apt  to 
deplore  not  merely  our  loss,  but  his  own.  W e  are  apt  to  regret  as  a 
loss  to  him  as  well  as  to  ourselves  the  many  years  of  usefulness  and 
comparative  comfort  which  he  might  yet  have  enjoyed.  The  feeling 
is  not  always  a  reasonable  one.  Who  can  tell  whether  Logan’s  old 
age  would  have  been  a  happy  one  ?  Some  men  there  are,  like  W ash- 
ington  at  Mount  Vernon,  like  Jefferson  at  Monticello,  who,  after  a 
life  of  active  participation  in  public  affairs,  can  quietly  withdraw 
from  the  current  of  events  and  spend  their  declining  years  in  pri¬ 
vate  life,  watching  the  gradual  decay  of  bodily  strength  and  mental 
vigor  with  the  same  calm  resignation,  and  even  with  the  same  sober 
happiness,  with  which  they  watch  the  lengthening  shadows  at  the  close 
of  a  summer  day.  Such  an  old  age  is  not  the  common  lot  of  public 
men.  It  is  possible  only  to  a  few.  We  can  not  be  sure  that  it  would 
have  been  Logan’s  lot  had  he  been  spared  to  live  out  his  three-score 
years  and  ten. 

His  life  almost  from  boyhood  had  been  one  of  political  activity. 
W ould  he  have  been  content,  like  W ashington,  to  resign  life’s  active 
duties  at  the  inexorable  bidding  of  advancing  age  ?  He  was  not 
sure  even  of  bodily  health.  The  fatigues,  the  wounds,  the  exposures 
of  the  war  had  begun  already  to  tell  upon  his  constitution.  For  him, 
perhaps,  it  is  better  as  it  is.  His  death  is  our  loss  rather  than  his 
own.  Better,  perhaps,  for  this  keen,  ambitious  spirit  to  jjass  from 
life  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  mental  powers  ;  his  career  not  yet 
completed  ;  the  last  and  brightest  goal  of  his  ambition  still  before 
his  eyes  and  almost  within  his  reach. 


Address  of  Mr.  Rogers,  of  Arkansas. 

Mr.  Speaker:  Integrity  is  the  basic  principle  of  all  moral  charac¬ 
ter  —  integrity  in  its  broadest  sense,  integrity  of  thought,  integrity  of 
word,  integrity  of  deed. 

Laborious  industry  is  the  indispensable  condition  of  all  success 
which  is  honestly  achieved. 

Ho  less  an  important  element  in  human  greatness  is  courage. 

Not  merely  that  valor  which  asserts  itself  in  the  presence  of  danger. 


Address  of  Mr.  Rogers,  of  Arkansas. 


119 


nor  that  fortitude  which  enables  us  to  suffer  and  endure,  nor  that 
resolution  which  falters  not  at  difficulties,  nor  yet  that  heroism  which 
despises  danger  and  overrides  what  to  the  more  discreet  and  timid 
seems  insurmountable  barriers,  but  rather  that  rarest  of  all  virtues 
among  men,  that  moral  courage  which  prompts  the  upright  man  to 
sacrifice  public  favor,  to  accept  defeat,  to  undergo  humiliation,  and 
even  public  censure  if  necessary,  in  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  con¬ 
science  and  in  the  discharge  of  public  duty. 

My  personal  relations  with  General  Logan  were  limited  to  a  passing 
acquaintance  and  a  few  meetings  on  matters  of  public  business.  But 
I  am  persuaded  from  all  I  knew  of  him  that  he  possessed  all  the  qual¬ 
ities  I  have  mentioned  and  to  a  pre-eminent  degree. 

At  a  time  when  others  holding  similar  positions  of  honor  and  trust 
lived  sumptuously  and  grew  rich  General  Logan  kept  his  frugal  and 
simple  ways,  and  finally  died  comparatively  poor. 

In  high  stations  of  public  trust,  when  others  were  falling  on  all 
sides  entangled  in  the  meshes  of  public  scandals  and  besmirched  by 
improper  connection  with  corrupt  legislation  and  doubtful  enterprises, 
General  Logan  steered  clear  of  all  questionable  transactions,  and 
finally  bequeathed  to  his  family  that  which  is  better  than  riches,  the 
splendid  legacy  of  a  good  name. 

That  he  was  indefatigably  industrious,  zealous,  and  scrupulously 
faithful  in  the  discharge  of  every  public  duty  those  who  knew  him 
best  cheerfully  attest,  and  this  I  believe  to  have  been  the  key  to  his 
great  success. 

Few  men  are  born  great.  The  truest,  the  safest,  the  wisest  are  the 
plodders.  I  do  not  believe  General  Logan  was  either  brilliant  or  in 
any  sense  what  the  world  calls  a  genius.  But  he  was  more;  he  was 
a  great  worker,  an  honest  thinker,  and  a  courageous  actor.  N o  man 
ever  doubted  his  courage,  moral  or  physical.  .  His  public  record  will 
show  separations  from  his  party  and  friends  on  many  public  ques¬ 
tions  and  a  dogged  pertinacity  in  the  maintenance  of  his  convictions 
against  all  odds,  and  even  in  defiance  of  public  opinion. 

He  was  by  nature  self-reliant,  but  circumstances  had  wrought  no 
small  work  in  the  formation  of  his  character.  He  had  grown  up  and 
lived  his  whole  life  in  the  great  West,  that  part  of  our  country  the 
wonderful  development  of  which  can  scarcely  be  comprehended,  a 
development  which  it  required  courage,  industry,  endurance,  patience, 
and  self-reliance  to  work  out. 


120  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

General  Logan  was  a  prominent  actor  amid  all  the  bnsy  struggles 
and  changeful  stages  through  which  this  great  section  passed  from 
its  infancy  until  his  death.  He  had  imbibed  its  vigorous  spirit  in 
his  youth,  and  it  was  his  strength  and  support  while  he  lived.  He 
reflected  its  great  energies  and  marvelous  resources  in  his  simple, 
industrious,  and  abstemious  habits,  his  powerful  frame,  his  great 
endurance,  and  determined  resolution. 

That  great  section  of  our  country  gives  to  history  no  better  speci¬ 
men  of  its  productions  than  General  Logan.  Open,  frank,  without 
finesse,  his  methods  were  direct  and  his  purposes  unconcealed. 

He  was  ambitious,  but  it  was  a  laudable  ambition,  guided  by  patri¬ 
otism  and  inspired  by  a  desire  to  benefit  his  fellow-men  and  promote 
the  welfare  of  his  country. 

I  knew  nothing  personally  of  his  domestic  relations.  Of  the  story 
of  his  early  love,  his  marriage,  and  the  beautiful  domestic  life  that 
followed,  others  have  spoken  and  are  better  qualified  to  speak. 

I  have  ventured  to  speak  only  of  his  personal  characteristics  and  his 
private  and  public  worth.  All  understand  his  public  services,  extend¬ 
ing  through  a  long,  eventful,  and  honorable  public  life.  These  belong 
to  history  and  are  the  proud  heritage  of  his  country  which  he  served 
and  honored  and  which  in  turn  honored  him. 

It  is  difficult  to  determine  whether  his  greatest  achievements  were 
in  war  or  in  peace.  They  were  great  in  both.  His  long  and  honor¬ 
able  career  is  a  tribute  to  our  institutions  and  an  honor  to  our  mar¬ 
velous  civilization.  His  life  furnishes  a  bright  example  for  the  ambi¬ 
tious  youth  of  the  Republic. 

He  went  out  from  among  us  in  the  prime  of  his  usefulness  and  in 
the  zenith  of  his  influence  and  power. 

In  the  great  State  of  Illinois  his  place  will  not  be  easily  filled.  In 
the  councils  of  his  party  he  will  be  missed.  In  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  he  will  be  long  remembered.  In  the  hearts  of  the  citi¬ 
zen  soldiery  of  the  Union  he  is  already  enshrined. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  esteem  it  a  privilege,  as  it  is  a  pleasure,  to  unite  in 
paying  this  last  tribute  of  respect  to  the  memory  of  the  illustrious 
dead. 


Address  of  Mr.  Rowell,  of  Illinois. 


121 


Address  of  Mr.  Rowell,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  With  no  hope  of  adding  anything  to  what  has 
already  been  said  in  the  way  of  correctly  delineating  the  character 
of  General  Logan,  I  am  still  unwilling  to  let  this  occasion  pass 
without  paying  my  tribute  to  his  memory.  It  was  my  fortune  to 
serve  under  him  during  the  war  of  the  rebellion  for  more  than  a 
year,  and  in  the  same  army — the  Army  of  the  Tennessee — for  a 
much  longer  period.  \ 

In  that  fiery  furnace  of  war,  which  tries  the  metal  of  which  men 
are  made,  I  learned  to  believe  in  him ;  not  alone  in  his  wonderful 
leadership  as  a  soldier,  but  as  one  who  loved  his  country  above  all 
other  earthly  things ;  who  knew  no  divided  allegiance,  and  who 
counted  no  sacrifice  too  great  when  made  in  defense  of  the  flag  which 
typified  American  liberty  and  unity. 

Since  the  return  of  peace  I  have  been  one  of  those  who  believed 
in  him  as  a  political  leader — as  safe  in  council  as  he  was  heroic  in 
war.  The  ways  of  Providence  are  mysterious  ;  we  submit  to  them 
because  we  must.  Believing  in  a  higher  wisdom  than  that  of  men, 
we  are  ready  to  say  it  is  best  when  our  cherished  hopes  are  crushed, 
our  most  earnest  purposes  thwarted. 

I  have  felt  that  the  annals  of  Illinois  and  her  connection  with  the 
grandest  and  saddest  periods  of  our  national  history  would  not  be 
complete  until  the  greatest  of  our  volunteer  soldiers  should  be  called 
to  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  nation,  and  so  complete  in  that  great 
office  the  triumvirate,  Lincoln,  Grant,  Logan — each  with  his  own 
peculiar  greatness — Illinois’s  contribution  to  the  world’s  great  names 
‘That  were  not  born  to  die.” 

It  has  seemed  to  me  that'  the  grand  army  of  volunteers  would 
never  be  fully  honored  and  rewarded  until  the  whole  nation  should 
do  them  homage  by  electing  to  the  Presidency  their  recognized 
chieftain.  But  Providence  has  ordered  otherwise,  and  we  bow  in 
humble  submission,  still  protesting  that  one  page  of  our  history  re¬ 
mains  incomplete  and  must  ever  so  remain. 

From  early  manhood  Logan  was  inspired  by  honorable  ambition 
to  deserve,  and  to  take  by  so  deserving,  high  rank  among  men. 

For  more  than  thirty  years  his  name  has  been  a  part  of  the  public 
history  of  his  native  State  and  for  nearly  as  long  cf  the  nation.  He 


122 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


lias  received  honors,  military  and  civic,  above  most  men,  but  for  all 
the  honors  conferred  upon  him  by  a  grateful  and  appreciative  people, 
he  has  returned  to  them  more  than  measure  for  measure,  many  fold, 
in  faithful  and  efficient  service.  We  are  and  must  ever  remain  his 
•debtor,  not  more  for  what  he  has  accomplished  than  for  the  benefi¬ 
cent  influence  of  his  example  which  remains  for  the  living  and  for 
■other  generations. 

General  Logan  was  a  man  of  convictions.  He  had  no  half  beliefs. 
With  untiring  industry  he  sought  for  knowledge,  and  was  content 
with  nothing  less  than  all  that  could  be  known  about  the  great 
questions  upon  which  he  was  called  to  act.  Having  reached  a  con¬ 
clusion,  it  became  to  him  truth  itself,  it  possessed  him  and  impelled 
to  action.  No  man  ever  walked  in  the  pathway  pointed  out  by  his 
own  logic  more  firmly  than  he,  regardless  of  consequences  to  himself. 

With  unbounded  faith  in  popular  government  and  in  the  wisdom 
which  abides  in  the  sober  second  thought  of  the  people  he  had  a 
profound  contempt  for  the  spirit  of  demagogy  which  trims  for  every 
passing  breeze  and  seeks  to  make  personal  capital  out  of  the  ebulli¬ 
tions  of  passion,  the  temporary  crazes  which  affect  our  poor  human 
nature.  Double  dealing  was  impossible  to  him.  He  had  no  thoughts 
which  he  feared  to  utter,  no  purposes  he  cared  to  conceal. 

He  was  ever  ready  to  give  and  take  hard  blows  in  open  and  hon¬ 
orable  contest.  He  never  fought  in  ambush,  nor  sought  success  by 
concealment  of  his  purpose  where  fairness  demanded  openness  and 
candor. 

A  faithful  friend  and  an  uncompromising  foe,  he  attracted  strong 
friendships  and  invited  bitter  enmities.  Hot  and  hasty  in  temper, 
he  would  always  go  more  than  half  way  in  reconciliation.  A  strong 
partisan  by  nature,  yet  he  would  not  remain  silent  when  he  thought 
liis  party  associates  were  going  wrong.  A  native  of  Illinois  and 
loving  his  native  State  and  her  people  with  a  passionate  love,  yet  in 
public  life  he  was  an  American  citizen,  too  large  a  man  to  be  hemmed 
in  by  State  lines  either  in  thought  or  service. 

Among  the  soldiers  of  the  “ Grand  Army”  he  was  “Comrade” 
Logan.  It  was  a  comradeship  of  personal  regard,  of  strong  and  en¬ 
dearing  friendship,  born  amidst  scenes  of  danger  and  death,  made 
sacred  by  the  memory  of  the  fallen,  and  cemented  by  his  ever-watcli- 
ful  care  of  their  interests  in  all  his  public  life. 

For  four  long,  eventful  years  he  had  been  to  them  the  ideal  leader 


Address  of  Mr.  Rowell ,  of  Illinois. 


123 


nearest  to  the  rank  and  file.  In  all  those  years,  to  him  and  to  them, 
there  never  was  hut  one  ending  possible.  And  that  ending  the 
supremacy  of  national  authority  over  all  the  United  States,  an  undi¬ 
vided  nation,  freedom’s  heritage  and  home. 

There  has  ever  been  an  abiding  faith  among  his  comrades  that 
whatever  others  might  do  he  would  never  apologize  for  the  part  that 
he  and  they  took  in  that  great  struggle,  and  he  never  did.  But  they 
knew  he  was  as  generous  as  he  was  brave,  and  they  have  held  up  his 
.  hands  with  ready  sympathy  and  hearty  support  in  all  his  efforts  to 
help  rebuild  the  places  laid  waste  by  war,  to  restore  everywhere  a 
love  for  the  Union,  to  secure  to  all  the  people  the  fruits  of  peaceful 
and  honest  industry,  and  the  individual  rights  which  belong  to  every 
citizen  of  the  Republic. 

To  his  soldiers  his  death  is  a  personal  bereavement  which  others 
cannot  fully  appreciate.  I  cannot  dwell  upon  it.  I  dare  not  attempt 
to  lift  the  veil  which  shuts  out  the  public  from  this  personal  sorrow. 
Their  leader  in  life,  his  death  makes  no  vacancy  for  other  leadership. 

Dead !  Ho  longer  standing  in  the  Senate  a  representative  of  all 
that  was  best  and  bravest,  a  voice  comes  from  his  tomb,  the  voice  of 
command,  always  with  them,  bidding  them  to  remain  faithful  sen¬ 
tinels  on  the  watch-towers  of  American  liberty. 

The  death  of  General  Logan  is  especially  mourned  by  Western 
soldiers.  The  young  men  of  the  great  West  who  sprung  to  arms  at 
the  first  note  of  impending  war  formed  the  nucleus  of  that  great 
division  of  the  Army  known  as  “the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.”  That 
army  was  almost  exclusively  composed  of  the  men  of  ’61  and  ’62 
from  the  West  and  Northwest.  It  was  the  army  that  won  the  victo¬ 
ries  which  made  Grant  commander-in-chief  and  Sherman  his  chief 
lieutenant.  With  that  army  the  knightly  McPherson  won  his  tri¬ 
umphs  and  rode  to.  his  death. 

With  that  army  was  all  of  General  Logan’s  service  from  the  be¬ 
ginning  to  the  end  of  the  war.  The  injustice  which  kept  him  from 
being  its  commander  after  McPherson  fell  gave  him  also  the  oppor¬ 
tunity  of  showing  to  the  country  how  great  he  could  be  in  unselfish 
patriotism. 

At  Belmont  and  at  Fort  Donelson  he  gave  token  of  the  future 
great  commander.  But  it  was  in  that  remarkable  campaign  in  the 
rear  of  Vicksburg,  when  Grant  cut  loose  from  his  base,  and  by  a 
series  of  brilliant  battles  and  victories,  equal  to  any  Napoleon  ever 


124 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


won,  forced  Pemberton  within  the  works  at  Vicksburg  and  finally 
compelled  his  surrender,  that  General  Logan  became  the  idol  of  his 
men  and  proved  himself  worthy  to  stand  with  Sherman  and  McPher¬ 
son,  safe  on  any  field  and  equal  to  great  occasions. 

Thenceforth  where  Logan  led  his  soldiers  followed  with  implicit 
faith.  Remembering  Raymond  and  Champion  Hills,  from  that  time 
on  they  followed  Logan  into  battle  with  full  faith  in  a  victorious 
ending  The  war  over,  he  remained  their  leader  still. 

I  speak  as  a  member  of  that  old  Army  of  the  Tennessee — glorying 
in  its  volunteer  hero  ;  rejoicing  in  all  his  successes  in  the  field,  at 
home,  in  this  House,  and  in  yonder  Senate  Chamber  ;  mourning  his 
too  early  death. 

While  Logan  has  been  the  leader  of  his  party  in  Illinois  for  many 
years  he  has  never  been  a  party  dictator.  He  never  resorted  to  the 
petty  ways  of  the  mere  politician.  Believing  in  the  righteousness 
of  his  cause,  he  was  always  ready  to  give  a  reason  for  the  faith  that 
was  in  him.  He  knew  his  position,  feared  no  rivalries,  and  trusted 
the  people.  Ability,  integrity,  courage  of  conviction,  and  indomit¬ 
able  will  made  of  him  a  leader  worthy  of  a  great  party.  Let  others 
speak  of  his  failings  and  foibles  if  they  will.  For  me  they  are  buried 
in  his  grave,  and  Logan,  the  hero  and  the  statesman,  only  remains. 

Pure  in  public  and  private  life,  honest  in  thought  as  well  as  deed, 
he  has  left  to  mankind  an  example  worthy  of  emulation  ;  to  the  na¬ 
tion,  his  untarnished  name  and  fame — best  of  legacies. 

The  Christian  gentleman,  the  stalwart  man,  the  tender  husband, 
and  the  loving  father  has  gone  from  our  midst  forever.  His  spirit 
has  crossed  the  dark  river  to  the  presence  of  the  Omnipotent  in 
whom  he  trusted.  His  work  is  ended. 

Be  it  ours  to  emulate  his  patriotism,  to  be  watchful  guardians  of 
his  good  name  and  fame,  and  to  cherish  that  Union  of  States  and 
that  universal  liberty  for  which  he  died. 


Address  of  Mr.  Daniel,  of  Virginia. 

Mr.  Speaker:  In  the  full  vigor  of  his  life,  in  the  rounded  fame  of 
achievement,  and  in  the  high  career  of  his  distinguished  office  John 
A.  Logan  has  heard  the  Master’s  call. 

Yonder,  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  we  saw  him  when  here  we  met  in 
December  last,  stout  of  heart  and  stout  of  frame — a  figure  militant, 


Address  of  Mr.  Daniel,  of  Virginia. 


125 


foremost  in  the  lists,  his  eye  kindling  with  the  fire  of  exultant  life ; 
and  now  he  lies  with  folded  hands  across  his  breast,  and  his  white 
face  turned  heavenward  awaiting  the  opening  of  the  mystery  “when 
this  corruptible  shall  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal  shall  put 
on  immortality.” 

I  envy  not  the  feelings  of  the  man  who  does  not  “  mourn  with  those 
who  mourn”  the  strong  man  stricken  in  his  prime,  the  fearless  chief, 
the  father,  the  husband,  the  statesman,  the  friend,  whose  life  was  to 
so  many  the  source  of  pride,  and  joy,  and  satisfaction.  And  with 
those  who  knew  him  best  and  loved  him  most,  I  bow  my  head  beside 
the  bier  of  Logan. 

It  is  not  for  me  to  assume  that  I  am  the  person  to  attempt  critical 
analysis  of  his  character  or  the  recital  of  his  achievements,  nor  do  I 
conceive  indeed  that  the  time  has  yet  arrived  when  calm-browed 
history  may  assign  to  him  the  exact  place  to  which  he  was  entitled 
in  the  ranks  of  America’s  great  men. 

Descended  through  both  ancestral  lines  of  Scotch-Irish  stock,  he 
inherited  the  frank,  ardent,  pertinacious,-  and  courageous  elements  of 
character  which  have  made  that  sturdy  strain,  wherever  planted, 
foremost  in  adventurous  enterprise  and  hardy  undertaking.  A 
partisan  by  nature,  and  living  in  times  and  situations  that  made 
partisans  of  the  coldest  bosoms,  we  can  not  yet  behold  him  in  an 
atmosphere  calm  enough  and  clear  enough  to  draw  his  lineaments 
with  precision.  But  through  the  smoke  of  conflict  and  the  haze  of 
passion,  there  was  that  in  Logan  so  distinctive  that  his  commanding 
features  will  never  be  mistaken  for  another’s;  and  there  were  ele¬ 
ments  of  his  character  and  of  his  performances  which  made  him 
worthy  the  respect  and  admiration  of  all,  whether  they  be  counted 
as  his  friends  or  foes. 

Born  myself  under  and  following  a  different  star  from  that  which 
guided  his  footsteps,  and  living  my  life  in  opposition  to  most  of  the 
ideas  which  he  pressed  to  the  front  with  all  the  ardor  and  vigor  of 
his  dauntless  nature,  my  standpoint  has  not  been  such  as  to  make 
me  the  suitable  eulogist  of  his  deeds  or  render  me  capable  of  becom¬ 
ing  his  impartial  judge.  But  whatsoever  may  be  the  standpoint  from 
which  we  contemplate  his  remarkable  career  we  can  not  look  upon 
him  otherwise  than  a  man  singled  out  from  his  fellows  by  conspic¬ 
uous  traits,  and  by- many  of  those  traits  which  are  universally  ac¬ 
knowledged  and  honored  as  chief est  among  manly  virtues. 


126 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

As  said  of  him  in  the  Senate  Chamber  by  one  Avho  confronted  him 
in  the  first  and  last  battle  which  he  fought,  he  was  marked  by  ‘  ‘  grand 
individuality  and  striking  characteristics.”  And  by  another  not  less 
his  opponent  in  the  forum  and  the  field :  “  1ST o  braver  man  ever  lived, 
and  the  Almighty  Creator  endowed  him  with  many  other  and  great 
virtues.” 

No  glint  is  given  us  in  these  words  alone  of  his  long,  varied,  and 
brilliant  services;  but  they  constitute  an  epitaph  chiseled  by  the  hand 
of  truth  upon  the  marble  tablet  of  enduring  memory,  and  they  will 
live  as  the  unaffected  tribute  of  sterling  men  to  one  who  was  himself 
a  sterling  man  and  leader  of  men. 

The  reason  that  Logan’s  name  is  so  universally  honored  lies  in 
the  fact  that  he  lived  his  life  in  the  light,  and  had  no  cause  to  fear 
the  light.  In  his  character  and  in  his  record  there  are  no  dark  mys¬ 
terious  phases.  In  an  era  fertile  in  the  production  of  distinguished 
men,  and  that  brought  men  to  the  front  according  to  the  strength  that 
was  in  them,  he  stands  upon  a  pedestal  high  and  erect,  a  clear  cut, 
magnificent  individuality,  purely  American  in  its  type,  heroic  in  its 
mold,  marked  by  the  masculine  lines  of  power  in  thought  and  power 
in  action,  bespeaking  the  will  to  do,  eloquent  of  the  soul  to  dare. 

Did  he  accomplish  much?  Yes;  he  possessed  a  robust  mind,  he 
knew  that  a  straight  line  was  the  shortest  distance  between  two 
points,  and  he  went  that  line,  “  horse,  foot,  and  dragoons,”  from 
purpose  to  object.  He  was  a  tireless  worker,  difficulties  and  dangers 
did  not  deter  him,  and  he  has  left  behind  him  lasting  memorials  of 
his  work  with  sword  and  tongue  and  pen. 

Was  he  a  great  orator?  Yes ;  not  in  the  grace  of  classic  art,  not 
in  the  polish  of  rounded  period,  but  in  the  earnestness  of  his  utter¬ 
ances,  the  cogency  of  his  thought,  and  in  the  power  to  persuade. 

Was  he  a  great  soldier?  Yes ;  great  in  the  personal  prowess  of  the 
brave  knight  who  faces  those  not  less  brave  with  valor  that  does  not 
hesitate  or  flinch  from  the  encounter,  and  great  in  abilities  to  inspire, 
marshal,  and  lead  hosts  to  battle. 

Was  he  beloved  by  his  soldiers?  Yes ;  he  was  thoughtful  of  them, 
he  was  reckless  of  himself,  and  he  fought  in  front  of  them. 

Was  he  a  great  political  leader?  Yes;  he  believed  in  his  own 
side,  and  espoused  it  with  enthusiasm  ;  he  stood  up  to  it  with  fidelity 
whether  it  won  or  lost ;  he  never  took  two  sides  at  the  same  time,  or 
wabbled  between  them  ;  he  was  strong  in  council,  steady  in  the  con¬ 
flict,  and  powerful  before  the  people. 


Address  of  Mr.  Daniel ,  of  Virginia.  127 

Was  he  respected  by  his  opponents?  Yes;  even  though  they 
thought  that  he  was  severe  in  his  judgments  and  hitter  in  his  ex¬ 
pressions,  they  sincerely  respected  him  because  they  realized  that  in 
him  was  the  upright,  fearless  spirit  that  said  its  say  and  did  its  deed, 
and  left  to  God  the  consequence.  They  respected  him  because  he 
was  candid  and  outspoken,  and  did  not  wreathe  his  sword  in  myrtle 
boughs.  They  respected  him  because  they  knew  he  did  not  carry 
political  hostility  into  private  relations ;  because  he  was  often  kind 
and  generous  to  his  political  opponents,  as  I  personally  know  and 
am  pleased  to  testify,  and  because  he  never  prostituted  his  public 
place  to  private  gain. 

So  high  is  honesty  among  the  virtues  that  it  condones  all  errors  of 
judgment.  So  splendid  is  courage  that  when  it  stands  by  honor’s- 
side  it  makes  the  man  seem  god-like. 

The  man  who  has  been  laid  by  loving  hands  to  his  final  rest  was 
honest  and  he  was  brave,  and  mankind  will  honor  his  name  and 
memory. 

Mr.  Speaker  and  Representatives,  those  of  us  whose  middle  life  is 
abreast  of  the  living  day  have  witnessed  scenes  as  stirring  as  ever 
blotted  history  with  blood,  and  as  decisive  as  any  that  ever  turned 
its  currents.  We  have  seen  brothers  fall  by  brother’s  hand,  States 
upset  with  anarchy,  the  flames  leap  over  lovely  fields  and  stately 
cities.  Then  out  of  chaos  and  misery  and  death  and  ruin  we  have 
looked  up  again  to  the  boundless  heavens  where  the  sun  shown 
new  risen. 

Down  in  Richmond  by  the  James  we  have  seen  the  men  of  Boston 
wreathing  with  garlands  the  statue  of  Stonewall  Jackson.  Away  in 
the  Shenandoah  V alley,  where  tongues  of  fire  once  licked  the  clouds, 
we  have  seen  Federal  soldiers  amidst  the  Confederate  graves  upon 
the  heights  of  Winchester,  strewing  them  with  flowers,  and  on 
bended  knees  offering  prayers  for  peaceful  home  and  happy  country. 
Amid  such  scenes  as  these  the  people  of  -the  land  have  felt  their 
hearts  new  opened;  and  I  thank  God  that  the  miracles  of  war  which 
American  courage  accomplished,  and  the  miracles  of  material  prog¬ 
ress  which  have  filled  the  wilderness  with  happy  and  industrious 
populations,  are  now  to  be  crowned  with  that  miracle  of  divine  love¬ 
working  through  the  hearts  of  men  that  makes  us  feel  the  tie  that 
binds  to  common  humanity  and  common  country. 

With  humble  spirit  I  commune  with  you  to-day  who  pronounce 


128 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


blessings  upon  the  dust  of  him  who  was  a  chief  amongst  your  chief¬ 
tains,  and  who  won  by  his  valorous  hand  and  upright  heart  the 
honors  paid  him  by  the  people. 

If  errors  be  committed,  may  the  good  ,God  forgive  them.  His  vir¬ 
tues  they  were  many  and  they  were  great.  May  they  live  forever, 
the  well-spring  of  pride  and  inspiration  to  all  his  countrymen.  To 
his  memory,  honor.  To  his  ashes,  peace. 


Address  of  Mr.  McComas,  of  Maryland. 

Mr.  Speaker:  On  the  last  evening  he  was  in  the  Senate  Chamber 
I  conversed  with  John  A.  Logan. 

His  business  with  the  world  was  done. 

I  recall  his  face  now,  a  noble  image  of  the  intrinsic  Logan,  as  we 
here  to-day  speak  of  his  pilgrimage  through  life. 

Sixty  years  of  life,  a  brief  section  of  swift-flowing  time,  but  in  it  for 
true,  hard  labor  and  valor  of  action  there  has  been  none  truer  or 
braver  than  he. 

A  farmer  boy,  at  school  in  Southern  Illinois ;  before  manhood,  a 
soldier  in  our  battles  with  far-off  Mexico,  eager  for  glory,  winning 
honors.  A  lawyer,  a  prosecuting  attorney,  and,  yielding  to  his  bent 
for  politics,  a  member,  a  leader  in  the  Illinois  legislature. 

At  thirty-two,  a  Democratic  member  of  this  House,  elected  and  re¬ 
elected  as  a  Representative  of  the  States-rights  party.  In  his  place 
here,  true  to  it,  until  convinced  that  loyalty  to  party  was  disloyalty  to 
the  Union,  when  he  closed  his  desk,  left  his  seat,  though  not  mustered 
in,  fell  in  line  with  a  regiment  marching  over  the  Potomac  yonder, 
and  fought  for  the  Union  in  the  first  battle  as  a  private  soldier. 

Then,  doing  manifold  victorious  battle  as  he  went  along,  he  emerged 
at  the  triumphant  close  of  war  from  among  a  million  volunteers  the 
foremost,  the  ideal  volunteer  soldier. 

In  the  whirlwind  of  the  passing  time  we  saw  him  at  Donelson 
charging  at  the  head  of  his  decimated  regiment  and  grievously 
wounded. 

At  the  close  of  the  siege  of  Vicksburg  we  heard  his  Great  Captain 
declare  that  Major-General  Logan  was  fitted  to  command  an  inde¬ 
pendent  army. 

Before  Atlanta,  when  McPherson  fell  in  the  early  morning  light, 


Address  of  Mr.  McComas,  of  Maryland.  129 

we  beheld  astride  his  black  horse  Black  Jack  Logan,  leading  an 
army  to  victory,  pointing  the  way  from  Atlanta  to  the  sea. 

At  the  grand  review  on  yonder  Avenue  we  saw  him  commanding 
the  Army  of  the  Tennessee. 

While  his  hand  was  still  familiar  with  the  sword-hilt,  while  the 
habits  of  the  camp  were  still  visible  in  his  port  and  swarthy  face,  he 
was  returned  to  his  seat  in  this  Chamber,  a  man  who  knew  in  every 
fiber,  who,  with  heroic  daring,  had  laid  it  to  heart,  that  it  is  good  to 
fight  on  the  right  side. 

On  this  floor,  and  in  the  Senate,  whither  he  was  soW  called,  and 
twice  returned,  his  first  care  was  for  the  Union  volunteers,  their  wid¬ 
ows  and  orphans.  The  wounds  on  his  own  body,  the  grievous  pain 
he  endured  with  proud  reticence  for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  only 
served  to  remind  him  of  those  who  with  him,  or  like  him,  suffered, 
hungry  or  athirst,  in  heat  or  snow,  the  marches  without  rest,  the 
nights  without  sleep,  the  fevers  or  pestilence  gathering  over  an  army 
in  slumber,  or  the  night-watches  in  rain  that  froze  as  it  fell,  as  well 
as  the  wounds  in  battle. 

He  was  thus  the  nearest,  best  friend  of  the  volunteer,  the  peer  of  the 
highest  officer,  a  brother  to  the  humblest  soldier,  the  sponsor  of  the 
Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  the  founder  of  “  Memorial  Day.” 

Faults  and  prejudices  he  had,  but  he  was  always  loyal  to  truth  and 
duty. 

Frank,  impetuous,  decisive,  honest,  he  advocated  his  convictions 
with  a  scorn  of  personal  consequence,  in  peace  as  in  war,  whether  as 
a  manager  of  the  impeachment  of  President  Johnson,  defending  Sen¬ 
ator  Payne,  condemning  General  Porter,  legislating  for  the  recon¬ 
struction,  or  laboring  for  the  education  of  an  enfranchised  race. 

The  manliest  of  men,  a  marvelous  leader  of  the  people,  a  famous 
popular  orator,  a  great  general,  a  statesman. 

Unsullied  he  bore  his  crowding  honors  worthily  in  public  life,  and 
rejoiced  in  the  sweet  contentment  of  an  almost  ideal  home  life. 

The  friend  of  Lincoln  and  Grant,  with  their  greater  names  posterity 
will  associate  Logan’s  heroic  face,  painted  now,  as  on  the  azure  of 
eternity,  serene,  victorious. 

God  grant  that  the  light  he  leaves  behind  him  may  illumine  the 
path  of  those  who  may  serve  our  country  in  her  need  for  generations 
to  come. 


130 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Address  of  Mr.  Weaver,  of  Nebraska. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  John  A.  Logan  dead  ;  no,  not  dead! 

There  is  no  Death!  What  seems  so  is  transition. 

This  life  of  mortal  breath 

Is  but  a  suburb  of  the  life  elysian, 

Whose  portal  we  call  Death. 

The  noble  traits  of  character  of  John  A.  Logan  have  been  indeli¬ 
bly  stamped  npon  the  hearts  of  the  American  people. 

His  whole  life  as  warrior  and  statesman  was  dedicated  to  giving 
full  force  and  significance  to  that  affirmation  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,  “  That  all  men  are  created  equal;  that  they  are  en¬ 
dowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights;  that  among 
these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.” 

When  that  mighty  effort  for  the  destruction  of  constitutional 
liberty  had  well  nigh  sapped  the  foundations  of  this  Republic;  when 
weak  and  wavering  men,  to  avoid  the  terrible  consequences  of  war, 
were  willing  to  make  concessions  looking  to  the  separation  of  this 
Union,  then  it  was  that  John  A.  Logan,  rising  above  all  considera¬ 
tions  of  party  policy,  inspired  by  a  patriotism  and  love  of  country  as 
fervent  as  that  which  moved  the  heart  of  William  Wallace  to  strike 
mightily  for  freedom  when  he  believed  that  the  tyrant  had  invaded 
the  dignity  of  his  home  and  that  black  treachery  was  torturing  away 
the  freedom  of  his  countrymen,  then  it  was,  I  say,  that  this  great 
warrior  and  statesman  breathed  upon  the  discontented  and  wavering 
elements  of  his  own  party  utterances  of  such  pure  and  patriotic  de¬ 
votion  to  his  whole  united  country  as  will  make  his  memory  as  last¬ 
ing  and  imperishable  as  the  Republic  itself. 

The  noble  traits  of  his  character  in  his  devotion  to  his  country 
were  made  more  conspicuous  because  of  his  life-long  affiliation  with 
a  party  that  was  now  engaged  in  a  war  for  the  destruction  of  the 
Union  and  a  dedication  of  one  part  thereof  to  human  slavery. 

Before  the  bugle  blast  of  war  had  called  any  of  our  country’s  de¬ 
fenders  to  the  field,  but  when  every  movement  of  the  discontented 
elements  attested  to  the  fearful  truth  that  civil  war  with  all  its  dire 
consequences  was  about  to  test  the  national  bond,  upon  this  floor,  in 
February,  1861,  John  A.  Logan  said  : 

I  have  been  taught  that  the  preservation  of  this  glorious  Union,  with  its  broad 
flag  waving  over  us  as  the  shield  of  our  protection  on  land  and  sea,  is  paramount  to 


Address  of  Mr.  Weaver,  of  Nebraska. 


131 


all  parties  and  platforms  that  ever  have  existed  or  ever  can  exist.  I  would  to-day, 
if  I  had  the  power,  sink  my  own  party,  and  every  other  one,  with  all  their  plat¬ 
forms,  into  the  vortex  of  ruin,  without  heaving  a  sigh  or  shedding  a  tear,  to  save 
the  Union  or  even  to  stay  the  revolution  where  it  is. 

This  was  but  a  patriotic  declaration  before  the  clash  of  arms,  but  in 
confirmation  of  his  entire  consecration  and  devotion  to  the  preserva¬ 
tion  of  the  Union  we  have  only  to  let  impartial  history  bear  witness. 
Not  content  to  serve  his  country  in  the  Halls  of  Congress,  away  from 
the  exposure  and  danger  of  shot  and  shell,  this  brave  man  rushed 
into  the  thickest  of  battle. 

Where  Logan  went  victory  perched  upon  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 
He  was  the  inspiration,  and  his  soldiers  followed  him  into  battle 
with  a  spirit  of  confidence  and  determination  that  knows  no  defeat. 

From  whatever  cause  that  may  be  assigned  by  the  faithful  chron¬ 
icler  of  events,  yet  no  one  will  ever  attempt  to  gainsay  that  where 
John  A.  Logan  went  there  was  victory,  there  was  fighting.  He 
was  one  whose  presence  meant  a  contest,  a  struggle  to  the  death. 
Let  Belmont,  and  Donelson,  and  Vicksburg,  and  Corinth,  and 
Champion  Hills,  and  other  battlefields  attest  to  the  truthfulness  of 
this  allegation. 

In  that  contest  for  the  preservation  of  the  nation — for  right  against 
wrong,  for  freedom  against  slavery,  for  all  that  was  good  and  pure 
and  noble  against  all  that  was  wicked  and  wrong  and  oppressive, 
wherein  from  the  beginning  of  the  contest  to  the  close  more  than 
two  and  one-half  millions  of  citizen  soldiers  placed  their  lives  upon 
the  altar  of  their  country  in  that  contest — we  do  know  that  J ohn  A. 
Logan  was  the  greatest  volunteer  soldier,  the  greatest  commander 
taken  from  civil  life.  He  was  the  recognized  leader  of  that  great 
army  of  volunteer  soldiers,  and  from  the  close  of  the  war  has  been 
the  defender  and  champion  of  the  cause  of  the  common  soldier  in 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

The  defenders  of  our  common  country  whose  valor  has  been  at¬ 
tested  upon  a  hundred  battlefields  have  lost  their  greatest  friend, 
and  our  country  has  lost  a  great  warrior  and  pure  statesman. 

John  A.  Logan  has  been  in  the  public  service,  almost  continuously, 
for  more  than  thirty  years,  and  during  all  these  years  of  faithful 
service  his  conduct  has  been  so  pure  that  not  even  a  suggestion  of 
corruption  was  ever  associated  with  his  name. 

His  mission  in  life  was  not  a  struggle  for  the  accumulation  of 
gold ;  he  sought  not  to  pacify  his  conscience  with  the  gilded  bubble 


132 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


of  wealth  ;  he  neglected  not  the  elements  of  intellectual  and  moral 

greatness  for  the  sordid  and  perishable  things  of  time.  His  whole 

life  was  dedicated  to  his  country,  to  human  rights,  to  making  more 

firm  and  lasting  the  foundations  of  this  Republic.  He  has  woven  his 

* 

name  in  history  with  illustrious  and  praiseworthy  deeds. 

Oh,  that  we  had  more  Logans  in  the  public  service  !  More  whose 
every  thought  and  every  effort  were  given  to  the  discharge  of  pub¬ 
lic  duty  ;  more  who  sought  no  opportunity  from  public  position  to 
secure  ill-gotten  gains  to  the  detriment  of  the  general  public  ;  more 
who  come  to  high  public  place  because  the  public  demand  their  serv¬ 
ice  and  not  because  the  place  is  made  the  subject  of  barter  or  to  serve 
some  special  interest. 


Address  of  Mr.  CuTCHEON,  of  Michigan. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  When  on  the  26th  day  of  December  last  the  intelli¬ 
gence  was  flashed  across  the  lands  and  under  the  seas  that  John  A. 
Logan  was  dead,  to  millions  of  men  it  brought  a  sense  of  personal 
loss  and  bereavement. 

There  were  men  among  us  of  greater  learning  than  he,  men  more 
famous  in  statecraft,  more  profound  in  the  law,  more  eloquent  as 
orators,  and  some  few  greater  as  soldiers ;  but  I  greatly  doubt  whether 
among  the  sixty  millions  of  people  in  this  Republic  there  was  one 
other  man  whose  death  would  have  touched  the  hearts  of  so  many 
persons  with  a  feeling  of  individual  loss  as  did  the  death  of  Logan. 

This  is  a  phenomenon  worthy  of  our  study.  Here  was  a  man  who 
was  neither  greatly  learned,  nor  polished,  nor  rich,  nor  aristocratic ; 
but  he  had  made  himself  felt  across  this  great  continent  and  his  name 
familiar  among  all  English-speaking  people. 

Whatever  other  traits  he  may  have  possessed  or  may  have  lacked, 
he  was  a  forceful  man.  Wherever  he  came,  throughout  his  whole 
life,  men  became  conscious  that  a  new  force  had  entered  into  the 
problem  to  be  solved,  a  force  that  was  positive  and  could  not  be 
ignored. 

His  was  a  masterful  nature  that  bent  circumstances  to  his  will,  and 
brought  men  around  him  to  work  with  him  and  for  him.  It  is  given 
to  but  few  men  in  a  generation  to  become  so  positive  a  force  among 
his  fellow-man  as  Logan  was. 

I  said  “as  Logan  was I  might  have  said  as  Logan  is ;  for  char- 


Address  of  Mr.  Cutcheon,  of  Michigan. 


133 


acter  does  not  die  witli  the  mortal  frame,  and  his  character,  his  influ¬ 
ence,  and  his  achievements  have  entered  into  the  forces  that  are 
developing-  our  national  and  individual  life. 

There  seems  to  he  an  epoch  in  the  formative  stage  of  all  new  states 
favorable  to  the  growth  of  strong  men. 

I  was  struck  recently,  in  reading  the  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln, 
with  the  remarkable  group  of  men  that  sprung  up  in  the  early  his¬ 
tory  of  Illinois. 

When  the  seat  of  government  was  first  removed  to  Springfield  there 
were  found  at  that  young  capital  at  one  time  Lincoln,  whose  name 
stands  second  to  none  in  American  history;  Douglas,  “  the  Little 
Giant,”  Lincoln’s  great  competitor  for  the  Presidency ;  Davis,  justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  Senator  and  acting  Vice-President ;  Brown¬ 
ing,  Senator  and  Cabinet  officer ;  Trumbull,  Senator  and  jurist ; 
Baker,  Senator  and  general ;  and  Shields,  general  and  three  times 
Senator  from  as  many  different  Commonwealths. 

It  was  while  all  these  men  were  still  upon  the  stage,  and,  in  fact, 
in  the  very  prime  of  their  early  manhood,  that  Logan  first  appeared 
in  political  life,  in  1852,  as  a  member  of  the  Illinois  legislature. 

He  was  an  admirer,  and  became  a  follower,  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas. 
I  am  impressed  with  the  belief  that  in  many  respects  his  character 
was  more  largely  formed  upon  that  of  Douglas  than  of  any  other 
man.  They  had  the  same  strong,  dominant  will,  the  same  courage 
and  fearlessness  in  following  out  a  conviction,  the  same  pugnacity 
and  persistence  in  fighting  their  contests  to  the  finish.  They  were 
alike  exceedingly  forceful  among  men,  and  natural  leaders.  Under 
the  influence  of  the  example  of  such  men  as  I  have  named  Logan 
began  the  career  which  was  to  be  so  potential  for  his  country  and 
for  humanity. 

A  character  is  the  product  of  all  the  forces  that  enter  into  it,  and 
the  first  great  formative  force  is  heredity.  Logan  was  of  Scotch- 
Irish  descent,  a  very  sturdy  and  very  vigorous  stock,  which  has 
given  us  some  of  the  strongest  men  that  hav e  blessed  our  countr  y. 

The  next  great  mold  of  character  is  the  environment  of  childhood 
and  youth.  Logan  was  born  upon  a  farm  in  the  comparative  isola¬ 
tion  of  a  newly-settled  region. 

The  men  around  him  were  of  the  large,  strong,  generous  type  that 
develops  upon  the  frontier,  and  he  inevitably  partook  of  the  spiiit 
of  the  boundless  prairie  and  the  freedom  that  has  never  felt  the  fet¬ 
ters  and  constraints  of  aggregated  humanity  in  cities. 


134 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan . 


Just  as  he  was  emerging  from  youth  came  the  war  with  Mexico, 
and  a  union  of  patriotism  with  the  spirit  of  adventure  swept  him 
into  the  ranks  of  the  army  in  that  struggle.  It  was  a  mere  episode 
in  his  life,  hut  it  was  an  index  to  the  character  of  the  coming  man. 

Then  came  the  study  of  the  law,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  we 
find  him  in  the  legislature  of  his  State,  from  which  Lincoln  had  hut 
four  years  before  graduated  into  the  Halls  of  Congress. 

After  being  again  elected  to  the  legislature  in  1856,  Logan,  in  1858, 
was  himself  elected  to  Congress,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two,  where  he 
commenced  that  public  career  which  only  ended  when,  on  the  day 
after  the  last  Christmas-tide,  he  laid  all  his  honors  and  all  his  burdens 
down. 

Meanwhile  a  new  force  and  influence  had  come  into  his  life.  In 
1855  he  had  married  that  devoted  woman  who  thenceforth  and 
throughout  his  life  became  his  helper  and  his  good  genius.  We  may 
not  speak  more  of  her  here.  What  his  life  would  have  been  had  he 
never  met  Mary  S.  Cunningham  it  would  be  impossible  to  guess, 
but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  it  would  have  been  far  less  useful  and  less 
illustrious  than  it  was. 

It  was  here  in  Washington  that  his  real  career  began  and  his  real 
character  shone  forth.  The  nation  was  already  entering  the  penum¬ 
bra  of  the  dread  eclipse  of  war. 

The  chill  and  shadow  of  the  coming  event  was  already  upon  the 
hearts  of  the  people. 

Born,  as  he  was,  in  Southern  Illinois,  a  promontory  of  the  free 
States  projecting  far  down  into  the  gulf  of  slavery,  and  peopled  largely 
with  settlers  from  the  adjacent  slave  States,  his  whole  political  edu¬ 
cation  was  in  sympathy  with  Southern  views,  and  it  was  natural, 
almost  inevitable,  that  he  should  ally  himself  with  the  party  which 
had  been  the  champion  of  Southern  institutions.  The  great  contest 
of  1858  between  Lincoln  and  Douglas  had  been  already  fought,  and 
the  same  political  wave  that  carried  Douglas  back  into  the  Senate 
swept  Logan  into  the  House. 

While  serving  his  first  term  in  this  House,  the  whole  country 
was  startled  and  shocked  by  J ohn  Brown’s  raid  upon  Harper’s  Perry. 
It  was  a  declaration  of  war  by  one  man.  It  was  a  small  affair  in 
itself — just  a  fanatical  old  man  and  a  few  devoted  followers  hurling 
themselves  to  death  upon  the  jagged  rocks  of  a  continent  of  wrong; 
it  was  but  the  flash  of  the  meteor  bursting  from  obscurity,  lurid  for 


135 


Address  of  Mr.  Cutcheon ,  of  Michigan. 

a  moment,  then  plunging  down  to  darkness  and  deeper  night;  it  was 
the  low  grumble  and  jar  of  the  earthquake  which  tells  that  the  “sure 
and  firm-set  earth  ”  is  swimming  beneath  our  feet. 

Old  J ohn  Brown  was  summarily  tried,  convicted,  and  hanged,  but 

his  scaffold  became  the  scene  of  exaltation  of  a  grand  self-immolation 

for  the  uplifting  of  lowliest  man. 

John  Brown’s  body  lay  moldering  in  the  ground, 

But  his  soul  went  marching  on. 

It  marched  to  the  South  and  it  marched  to  the  North,  and  every¬ 
where  it  was  a  gleaming  sword  summoning  the  natiqn  to  the  death- 
struggle  of  Freedom  and  Slavery. 

We  said  that  the  only  question  was  between  Union  and  Disunion, 
but  we  knew  in  our  hearts  that  the  issue  was  broader  than  that — 
that  the  real  issue  was  Freedom  or  Slavery,  and  the  hour  had  come 
for  the  nation  to  choose. 

Once  to  every  man  and  nation  comes  the  moment  to  decide, 

In  the  strife  of  Truth  with  Falsehood,  for  the  good  or  evil  side  ; 

Some  great  cause,  God’s  new  Messiah  offering  each  the  bloom  or  blight, 

Parts  the  goats  upon  the  left  hand,  and  the  sheep  upon  the  right ; 

And  the  choice  goes  by  forever  ’  twixt  that  darkness  and  that  light. 

Perhaps  few  men  were  ever  more  strongly  attached  to  a  party  than 
Logan  was  to  his,  but  when  it  came  to  a  question  between  party  and 
country  he  knew  no  such  thing  as  party  allegiance. 

The  first  shot  that  cleft  the  stillness  of  Charleston  Harbor  as  it 
boomed  across  the  bay  against  Sumter  severed  the  last  tie  that  bound 
him  to  a  party  he  had  loved  and  labored  for  until  he  had  reached 
one-half  the  allotted  age  of  man.  In  the  fierce  heat  of  his  patriotism 
everything  that  might  hold  him  back  from  supreme  devotion  to  his 
country  was  burned  away — utterly  consumed. 

He  at  once  resigned  his  seat  in  Congress  and  returned  to  his  State, 
that  those  who  had  looked  to  him  as  their  political  oracle  might  hear 
his  rallying  voice  and  be  held  firmly  to  the  cause  of  the  Union. 
With  all  the  force  and  intensity  of  his  nature  he  summoned  his  old 
political  friends  to  the  standard  of  his  country,  and  a  short  time  saw 
him  at  the  head  of  a  volunteer  regiment,  the  Thirty-first  Illinois. 

It  is  no  part  of  my  purpose  to  follow  him  through  the  annals  of 
the  war.  It  is  a  splendid  record  of  patriotism,  devotion,  courage, 
and  magnificent  leadership. 

Belmont,  Donelson,  Corinth,  Champion  Hills,  Jackson,  Raymond, 
and  Vicksburg  witnessed  his  valor  and  took  reflected  luster  from  the 
gleam  of  his  sword. 


136  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

Resaca,  Kenesaw,  Atlanta,  and  Jonesboro’  are  linked  with  his 
fame,  and  in  large  part  owe  their  glory  to  his  prowess. 

He  never  elbowed  his  way  to  promotion,  but  promotion  came  to 
him  almost  of  necessity. 

The  eagle  of  the  colonel  gave  way  to  the  star  on  his  shoulders 
after  Donelson,  and  that  again  was  replaced  by  the  double  stars  of 
the  major-general,  and  these  were  but  imperfect  indices  of  his 
growth. 

As  a  soldier  he  was  the  very  impersonation  of  intense  energy. 
Men  followed  him  because  they  had  no  choice  but  follow  him. 

He  was  first  of  all  intensely  patriotic ;  he  was  as  brave  as  patriotic, 
and  as  magnanimous  as  he  was  brave. 

He  possessed  the  confidence  of  his  superiors  and  the  enthusiastic 
love  of  his  soldiers. 

Of  his  return  to  Congress  after  the  war  and  his  career  here  for  al¬ 
most  twenty  years  I  have  not  time  to  speak.  Others  have  done  that 
far  better  than  I  could.  But  during  the  four  years  that  I  knew 
him  here  it  seemed  to  me  that  his  life  as  a  Senator  and  statesman 
was  but  the  projecture  into  another  sphere  of  the  traits  that  made 
him  the  splendid  soldier  that  he  was  —  intense  patriotism,  unlimited 
courage,  strong  virile  force,  honesty  that  was  unassailable,  devotion 
to  duty  that  took  little  account  of  consequences  to  self. 

My  acquaintance  with  General  Logan  began  almost  immediately 
on  my  arrival  at  the  Capital.  The  first  business  brought  before  the 
committee  on  which  I  had  the  honor  to  serve  was  the  case  of  Fitz- 
John  Porter;  and  in  that  connection  I  was  at  once  brought  into  con¬ 
tact  with  General  Logan.  I  was  deeply  impressed  with  the  earnest¬ 
ness  of  his  conviction  and  the  intensity  of  his  feelings,  and  his  utter 
loathing  of  what  he  believed  to  be  a  betrayal  of  trust.  As  he  would 
speak  of  it  his  indignation  would  flame  up,  his  form  would  seem  to 
dilate,  and  his  eye  would  flash  as  if  with  the  old  light  of  battle,  and 
I  could  imagine  how  he  would  have  ridden  down  the  line  as  he  did 
at  Peach  Tree  Creek,  with  his  black  hair  streaming  on  the  wind  and 
his  battle-blade  flashing  before  his  rushing  battalions. 

Does  any  one  doubt  that  Logan  was  great?  Ho  one  but  a  great 
man  can  fill  a  continent  with  his  name,  can  hold  a  great  common¬ 
wealth  in  his  grasp,  can  bind  unknown  millions  to  him  who  have 
never  seen  his  face,  so  that  his  loss  shall  seem  to  each  a  personal  be¬ 
reavement.  This  Logan  did.  But  he  is  discharged  the  service  of 
this  life — mustered  out  for  promotion. 


137 


.  Address  of  Mr.  Wilson,  of  West  Virginia. 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  devoted  patriot,  the  brave  soldier,  the  courageous 
statesman,  the  unsoiled  Senator,  the  devoted  husband  and  father, 
the  soldier’s  friend,  the  peerless  volunteer— he  shall  walk  with  us 
here  no  more. 

The  tender  flowers  we  laid  upon  his  coffin  on  that  last  sad  day  of 
the  old  year  have  long  since  withered  and  their  fragrance  passed 
away.  Neither  their  loveliness  nor  their  perfume  had  power  to  hold 
him  back  from  the  dissolution  of  mortality  nor  from  the  corruption 
of  the  grave. 

And  so  with  our  eulogies  to-day.  They  will  fade  with  the  passing 
hour.  “  The  world  will  little  note  nor  long  remember  what  we  say 
here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what  he  did  here.” 

If  his  fame  depended  upon  this  fleeting  breath  of  eulogy  it  would 
not  be  worth  the  having.  His  name  may  save  our  words  from  utter 
oblivion,  but  all  our  praise  will  not  prolong  his  memory  by  a  single 
day.  His  fame  rests  securely  in  the  nation  that  he  loved  and  helped 
to  save,  in  the  millions  of  hearts  that  he  taught  the  priceless  lesson 
of  patriotism,  in  the  thousands  of  homes  that  he  made  brighter  and 
happier  by  his  life. 

His  voice  is  silent  in  your  council  hall 
Forever;  and  whatever  tempest  lower, 

Forever  silent.  Even  if  they  broke 
In  thunder,  silent;  yet  remember  all 
He  spoke  among  you,  and  the  man  who  spoke. 

Who  never  sold  the  truth  to  serve  the  hour, 

Nor  paltered  with  Eternal  God  for  power. 


Address  of  Mr.  Wilson,  of  West  Virginia. 

Mr.  Speaker:  I  can  not  speak  of  General  Logan  with  the  kindling 
glow  of  personal  friendship,  or  even  of  political  sympathy,  that  has 
been  the  inspiration  of  many  tributes  to-day.  I  knew  him  but 
slightly  in  the  occasional  contact  of  public  life,  and  not  at  all  in  the 
intimate  relations  of  private  life.  To  me  he  was  only  what  he  was 
to  the  great  body  of  his  countrymen — a  fellow-citizen,  a  distinguished 
fellow-citizen,  who,  in  all  the  period  covered  by  my  memory  of  po¬ 
litical  affairs,  had  been  a  positive  figure  in  the  arena  of  American 
politics.  To  give  a  sketch  of  his  life,  however  brief,  would  be  to 
tread  a  path  many  times  trodden  already,  and  I  possess  no  fund  of 
personal  reminiscences  from  which,  on  an  occasion  like  this,  a  speaker 


138 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


may  appropriately  fill  in  the  soft  and  delicate  traits  of  character 
unseen  in  its  general  outline. 

I  must,  therefore,  speak  of  General  Logan  simply  as  the  clear-cut 
and  distinct  figure  that  has  so  long  been  familiar  to  the  American 
people,  for  I  think  no  one  will  deny  that  he  stood  out  with  an  indi¬ 
viduality  all  his  own,  even  in  that  small  class  of  public  men  to  whom 
public  service  is  a  steady  and  unbroken  career,  and  not,  as  it  is  to 
most  of  us,  merely  a  parenthesis  in  some  other  calling.  What  was 
the  trait  in  General  Logan’s  character  that  drew  and  fastened  to 
him  as  a  permanent  possession  the  favor  of  his  fellow-citizens  ? 

Not  broad  and  thoughtful  statesmanship,  for  while  there  is  a  grow¬ 
ing  conviction  that  in  this  respect  he  was  underrated,  still  he  was  not 
prominent  as  the  author  of  public  policies  or  of  great  party  measures; 
not  great  power  in  Congressional  debate,  or  magnetic  oratory  before 
the  people,  although  he  was  strong  in  both;  not  the  unquestioned  in¬ 
tegrity  that  passed  with  clean  hands  through  all  the  temptations  and 
opportunities  of  place  and  power,  for  this  was  shared  by  many  others 
among  his  colleagues  both  living  and  dead;  not  party  leadership  or 
ardent  party  zeal  that  loved  the  fray  and  was  happiest  when  in  the 
thickest  of  the  fight.  Concede  to  him  all  these  traits,  some  in  the 
fullest,  all  in  a  respectable  measure,  and  we  must  still  look  beyond 
them  for  the  chief  source  of  General  Logan’s  hold  upon  the  favor  of 
his  countrymen,  the  warm  attachment  of  friends,  the  hearty  respect 
of  enemies. 

The  cap-stone  and  crowning  virtue  of  his  character  was  its  brave 
and  transparent  singleness.  He  did  not  walk  the  stage  in  the  mask 
of  an  actor.  Men  saw  his  robust  virtues  and  admired  them;  they 
likewise  saw  his  faults  and  forgot  them,  because  he  wore  them  both 
upon  his  breast.  They  believed  him  to  be  just  what  he  seemed  to 
be,  nothing  more  and  nothing  less. 

And  thus,  Mr.  Speaker,  he  had  grown  upon  his  countrymen  as  one 

who  might  fitly  use  as  his  own  the  words  which  Homer  puts  in  the 

mouth  of  the  hero  of  his  Iliad: 

For  I  hate  with  perfect  hatred, 

Hate  him  like  the  gates  of  hell, 

Who  within  him  one  thought  harbors 
While  his  lips  another  tell. 

This  rare  and  noble  virtue  was  the  key  to  General  Logan’s  hold 
on  public  favor  and  his  ever- widening  popularity. 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  General  Logan  was  not  only,  and  perhaps  not 


139 


Address  of  Mr.  Wilson,  of  West  Virginia. 

chiefly,  known  as  a  civilian  and  Senator.  When  the  seed  of  discord 
planted,  or,  rather  should  I  say,  consciously  and  helplessly  left  in 
our  Federal  Constitution  by  its  framers,  had,  before  the  lapse  of  a 
single  century  of  national  existence,  under  the  forcing  heat  of  the 
slavery  struggle,  burst  into  the  blood-red  flower  of  civil  war,  General 
Logan  was  among  the  first,  and  most  eager,  to  take  part  in  the  con¬ 
flict.  Of  all  the  men  that  went  forth  from  this  Capitol,  to  range 
themselves  on  the  one  or  the  other  side  in  that  Titanic  struggle,  of 
all  the  men  that  entered  either  army  from  civil  life,  he  came  back 
bringing  the  greenest  laurels  and  having  achieved  the  most  unfading 
glory,  and,  in  the  more  than  twenty  years  that  have  since  elapsed, 
the  luster  of  that  martial  glory  added  much  to  his  power  and  influ¬ 
ence  in  the  councils  of  his  party  and  of  his  country. 

Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  in  the  memorial  services, 
one  week  ago  in  the  Senate,  no  heartier  tributes  were  offered  than 
those  which  came  from  men  who  had  met  him,  not  only  in  the  hot 
contests  of  partisan  strife,  but  in  the  fiercer  combats  of  real  war. 
They  were  sincere  tributes  of  manly  men  to  a  manly  man.  Ah,  Mr. 
Speaker,  we  glory  in  our  material  greatness,  our  unequaled  empire, 
with  its  sixty  millions  of  freemen,  our  growth  in  wealth,  the  daz¬ 
zling  sweep  of  mechanical  invention,  our  cities  and  railroads  and 
telegraphs ;  but,  sir,  let  us  remember  that  after  all  the  man  is  greater 
than  all  these,  the  man  is  more  than  the  city,  more  than  the  rail¬ 
road  or  steam-engine,  more  than  the  electric  telegraph. 

No  prouder  boast  was  ever  made  than  that  of  the  old  Ithacan, 
when  he  said  that  his  little  island  was  “a  rough,  wild,  nurse  land, 
but  its  crops  were  men.” 

Was  there  anything  in  his  life  more  manly  and  more  pathetic  than 
the  prayer  that  mingled  so  often  with  the  dying  breath  and  dying 
thoughts  of  the  successful  warrior,  when  at  Mount  McGregor  he, 
too,  surrendered  to  a  warrior  stronger  than  himself,  that  prayer  for 
the  complete  return  of  harmony  and  good  feeling  among  his  once 
divided  countrymen?  When  after  centuries  of  stubborn  contest  the 
strife  between  the  two  orders  at  Rome  had  finally  ceased,  the  strife 
that  so  often  threatened  to  dissolve  the  state  and  quench  forever  its 
rising  star ;  and  plebeian  and  patrician,  turning  from  the  bitterness 
of  the  past  and  remembering  only  its  glories,  joined  in  the  career  of 
greatness  that  has  as  yet  no  counterpart  in  history,  the  old  warrior 
Camillus  vowed  a  temple  to  Concord,  and  a  later  generation  of  Ro¬ 
mans  built  that  temple,  whose  remains  are  yet  seen  in  the  forum. 


140 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Mr.  Speaker,  was  not  the  dying  prayer  of  General  Grant  such  an 
inspiration,  such  an  injunction,  such  a  vow  ?  And  will  not  some 
generation  yet  to  come,  it  may  he  sooner  than  we  expect,  a  genera¬ 
tion  freer  from  the  passions  and  prejudices  of  the  strife  than  we  dare 
to  he,  huild  a  temple  to  Concord,  and  in  it  place  the  marhle  statues 
of  Grant  and  Lee,  of  Stonewall  Jackson  and  Thomas,  of  Hancock 
and  Stuart,  of  Hood  and  Logan,  and  others  not  named,  some  yet 
among  the  living  ?  Then,  when  future  generations  of  American 
citizens  shall  view  that  temple,  though  they  may  possess  a  higher 
civilization  than  we  enjoy,  a  greater  material  prosperity,  and  a 
wealth  and  invention  heyond  the  vista  of  our  imagination,  yet,  if 
they  are  worthy  of  the  heritage  we  transmit  to  them,  and  equal  to 
the  responsibilities  and  duties  which  are  theirs,  they  will  stand  un¬ 
covered  in  that  presence  and  exclaim:  “We  have  much  that  our 
fathers  had  not,  we  know  much  that  our  fathers  knew  not,  hut  in 
this  august  company  who  can  deny  that  their  crops  were  men.  ” 


Address  of  Mr.  Rice,  of  Massachusetts. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  I  bring  a  tribute  from  Massachusetts  and  place  it 
reverently  on  the  grave  of  Logan.  He  had  not,  I  believe,  a  drop  of 
our  blood  in  his  veins  ;  I  do  not  know  that  he  was  ever  within  our 
borders  excepting  once  or  twice  briefly  in  transit.  His  manners,  his 
method  of  thought  and  speech,  his  political  ideas,  were  not  always 
by  any  means  in  accord  with  ours,  yet  I  venture  to  say  this  soldier 
and  statesman  of  the  West,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  held  the  first 
place  in  the  hearts  of  the  soldiers  and  common  people  of  Massachu¬ 
setts,  who  are  her  chiefest  pride. 

Few  men  in  this  age  and  country  combined  in  so  marked  degree 
the  characteristics  which  go  to  make  up  personal  popularity.  His 
massive  frame,  his  glowing  eye,  his  splendid  strength,  his  undaunted 
courage  would  have  made  a  hero  of  him  at  any  time  in  any  land. 
He  would  have  “  held  the  bridge  ”  with  Horatius,  “  in  the  brave  days 
of  old;”  he  would  have  led,  amid  clashing  swords  and  spears,  the 
wild  warriors  who  came  down  from  the  north  to  the  sack  of  Rome  ; 
he  would  have  couched  lance  in  battle  or  in  tourney  with  the  tough¬ 
est  of  Froissart’s  knights.  As  a  patriot  soldier  he  was  bravest  among 
the  brave.  At  Belmont,  at  Donelson,  at  Vicksburg,  at  Atlanta,  he 
led  where  any  dared  to  follow.  He  never  dodged  a  bullet  or  turned 


Address  of  Mr.  Rice,  of  Massachusetts.  141 

his  face  from  the  front.  Had  he  been  called  to  do  it,  he  would 
have  scaled  Wagner  by  the  side  of  Shaw,  or  have  kept  his  saddle, 
as  Lowell  did  in  the  Valley,  after  his  death  wound,  to  lead  one  more 
charge  against  the  breaking  but  still  stubborn  foe. 

To  these  splendid  physical  traits  he  added  a  self-culture,  a  cool¬ 
ness  of  judgment,  and  a  power  and  quickness  of  comprehension 
which  made  him  a  consummate  general.  At  the  first  signal  from 
Manassas  he  marched  out  of  Washington  as  a  common  soldier  with 
a  musket  on  his  shoulder.  Four  years  later,  the  war  all  over,  he  rode 
back  in  triumph  a  major-general  at  the  head  of  the  proud  Army  of 
the  Tennessee.  Had  this  been  all,  when  he  died  a  grateful  nation 
would  have  kept  vigil  at  his  bier,  for  a  mighty. man  had  fallen  ;  the 
beauty  of  the  land  lay  dead  in  her  high  places. 

But  this  was  not  all.  By  the  sword  peace  had  been  won,  but 
peace  as  well  as  war  was  to  have  work  and  triumphs  for  Logan. 
For  more  than  twenty  years  he  served  in  Congress,  making  his  way 
by  force  of  will,  by  clearness  of  judgment,  by  appreciation  of  pop¬ 
ular  instincts,  and  by  honesty  of  purpose  and  action  in  such  a  degree 
that  at  his  death  his  fame  as  a  Senator  was  scarcely  eclipsed  by  his 
old  fame  as  a  soldier. 

Logan  was  born  poor  and  died  poor.  Perhaps  he  never  knew  the 
grinding  poverty  through  which  Lincoln  and  Webster  and  Garfield 
passed,  but  he  had  to  make  his  own  way  in  the  world  and  earn  his 
own  bread.  He  was  not  much  versed  in  the  learning  of  the  schools, 
but  he  learned  readily  with  his  eyes  and  ears,  and  few  men  in  the 
Senate  knew  how  to  use  the  English  language  more  correctly  and 
effectively.  Had  he  been  born  rich,  had  he  been  trained  in  the  cur¬ 
riculum  of  the  universities,  he  could  never  have  been  Logan.  Not 
down  from  the  heights,  but  up  through  tribulation  and  toil  and  suf¬ 
fering  come  the  leaders  of  a  free  people,  the  founders,  the  guardians, 
the  saviors  of  free  institutions.  Wealth  is  a  good  thing ;  we  all  want 
it ;  education  a  better ;  all  should  seek  it.  But  wealth  and  education 
in  these  days  have  their  dangers.  The  gilded  youth  who  dawdle  out 
their  little  lives  in  the  clubs  and  streets  of  city  life  either  die  unknown 
and  unseen  or  are  rudely  jostled  when  they  come  in  contact  with  the 
actualities  of  life.  Let  them  take  thought  lest  they  be  handicapped 
by  what  ought  to  help.  Only  hard  work  of  hand  and  of  head  will 
make  Logans.  Unless  ahalt  is  soon  called  in  wasteful  extravagance, 
in  servile  imitation  of  foreign  customs,  in  selfish  living,  the  time  will 


142  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

come  when  it  will  be  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  a  needle’s  eye 
than  for  a  rich  man  to  find  a  seat  in  the  high  places  of  popular  confi¬ 
dence  and  trust.  Logan — the  poor  man,  the  hard-working  man — was 
full  of  popular  sympathies.  As  a  general  he  always  cared  for  his  sol¬ 
diers;  as  a  legislator  the  humblest  and  poorest  were  the  ones  he  strove 
first  to  serve.  He  never  cringed  to  the  wealthy  and  powerful  that 
thrift  might  follow  fawning.  He  was  a  true  gentleman,  not  polished 
in  the  ways  of  the  courtier,  or  refined  in  the  finesses  of  social  life. 
Had  he  lived  in  the  days  of  chivalry  he  would  not  very  much  have 
graced  his  lady’s  bower,  or  have  sung  very  softly  troubadour  lays  un¬ 
der  her  lattice,  but  he  would  have  leaped  into  the  lion’s  den  or  the 
raging  whirpool  to  win  and  wear  her  glove ;  he  would  have  faced 
any  odds  in  defense  of  her  honor.  Bluff,  hearty,  honest,  he  never 
sought  to  conceal,  and  he  could  not  deceive. 

Logan  was  a  manly  man.  He  knew  his  own  merits,  and  that  they 
were  not  always  fully  recognized  and  rewarded ;  but  he  accepted 
what  came  to  him,  not  always,  perhaps,  quite  patiently,  but  with  no 
abatement  of  patriotic  ardor  and  effort.  “  Greater  is  he  who  ruleth 
his  own  spirit  than  he  who  taketh  a  city.”  This  fiery,  passionate 
man  could  control  himself.  He  could  watch  and  direct  the  move¬ 
ments  of  a  great  army,  forgetting  none  of  the  duties  of  a  general, 
while  his  blood  was  boiling  with  the  excitement  of  a  common  soldier 
in  the  fierce  joy  of  battle.  He  could,  and  repeatedly  did,  accept  the 
second  place  when  he  felt  that  the  first  was  his  by  right. 

All  his  life  he  was  a  public  man.  From  law,  from  all  private  busi¬ 
ness,  he  turned  away.  He  was  not  ashamed  to  seek  and  hold  office. 
In  youth,  clerk  of  courts,  member  of  the  legislature,  member  of 
Congress,  the  army,  and  then  legislator  and  statesman  to  the  end. 
He  did  not  consider  it  a  mean  ambition  to  strive  to  gain  favor  and 
distinction  in  the  public  service.  I  do  not  believe  that  he  was  ashamed 
when  called  a  politician,  or  that  he  thought  it  a  thing  for  which  to 
apologize  that  he  sought  to  be  true  to  his  friends  and  to  help  those  to 
offices  for  which  they  were  fitted  who  had  helped  him  to  rise.  I  pre¬ 
sume  he  felt  that  a  man  who  is  willing  to  do  honest  work  has  as  good 
a  right  to  seek  it  in  public  service  as  elsewhere,  and  that  he  deserves 
credit  rather  than  ridicule  and  hostile  criticism  for  being  willing  to 
accept  and  perform  the  duties  of  public  office. 

He  gave  his  whole  life  to  these  duties;  not  its  dregs,  not  what  was 
left  after  he  had  achieved  success  in  a  profession,  or  a  fortune  in 


143 


Address  of  Mr.  Caswell,  of  Wisconsin. 

trade,  but  accepted,  as  long  as  he  should  live,  comparative  poverty, 
hard  work,  obloquy,  the  abuse  of  rivals,  and  the  misrepresentations 
of  those  who  were  incapable  of  comprehending  his  character  and  his 
aims  for  the  privilege  of  serving  his  country  in  the  manner  he  had 
chosen.  I  declare  his  life  to  have  been  quite  as  worthy  and  honor¬ 
able  as  that  of  the  men  who  follow  their  own  selfish  pursuits  and 
sneer  at  politics  and  politicians  while  they  busily  ply  their  muck¬ 
rakes  to  make  their  piles  of  dirty  wealth  a  little  larger.  All  honor 
and  praise  to  the  man  who  is  ready  to  give  to  his  country  a  life  of 
hard  and  honest  work,  and  is  not  ashamed  to  be  pointed  at  as  an 
office-holder  and  politician  for  so  doing.  Let  the  young  men  of  the 
country  be  encouraged  by  the  example  of  Logan  and  learn  that 
there  is  no  higher  ambition  than  to  fill  worthily  positions  of  public 
trust. 

Logan  was  a  strong  man.  He  never  counted  his  friends  or  his 
foes.  He  knew  his  own  position,  and  if  he  could  not  win  others  to 
it  he  was  ready  to  defend  it  alone. 

He  is  dead — dead  in  the  maturity  of  his  strength  and  the  plenitude 
of  his  powers — but  his  example  lives.  He  has  won  a  high  place  in 
our  national  Pantheon;  his  name  will  live  in  history;  his  memory  is 
a  precious  legacy  to  those  whom  he  has  left  behind  him.  Is  this  all? 
Has  the  strong  man  utterly  passed  away?  Stands  he  no  longer  as  a 
tower  of  strength  for  refuge  and  defense?  Hot  so.  It  can  not  be. 
The  bugle-call  should  not  sound  “lights  out”  at  his  tomb.  His  light 
is  not  out;  though  invisible  to  us,  it  still  shines.  Somewhere  in  the 
infinite  realm  of  immortal  life  the  great  spirit  still  lives,  clad  in  the 
panoply  of  a  rich  and  well-improved  earthly  experience,  ready  for 
such  service  at  any  time  and  anywhere  as  opportunity  shall  offer 
and  Omnipotence  appoint. 


Address  of  Mr.  Caswell,  of  Wisconsin. 

s 

Mr.  Speaker  :  Again  it  has  become  our  duty,  as  it  is  our  pleasure, 
to  add  a  tribute  of  respect  to  the  merpory  of  a  distinguished  public 
servant — one  whose  name  has  long  been  engraven  upon  the  history 
of  this  country.  We  have  put  aside  the  business  of  the  day  that  we 
may  bear  testimony  to  his  great  worth  and  excellence. 

John  A.  Logan  was  neighbor  to  the  people  of  my  State.  He  was 
loved  and  esteemed  by  them  as  if  he  had  been  one  of  their  number. 


144  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

His  greai  public  service  bad  brought  him.  in  contact  with  them,  and, 
in  fact,  with  the  people  everywhere  in  the  Northwest,  where  he 
spent  the  most  of  his  life.  He  had  learned  their  wishes,  and  had  re¬ 
sponded  in  a  way  that  met  their  approval.  In  one  sense  we  are  but 
creatures  of  the  present  hour ;  it  is  but  a  question  of  time  for  most 
men  to  pass  away  even  from  the  memory  of  their  contemporaries, 
but  such  was  not  the  destiny  of  John  A.  Logan.  He  lived  for  a 
better  purpose,  and  he  will  live  on,  while  millions  pass  behind  the 
veil  to  be  heard  of  no  more. 

God  gave  Logan  a  talent  and  force  of  character  seldom  found 
among  men. 

Born  in  humble  life,  he  passed  through  the  school  of  experience 
on  his  upward  journey.  He  thus  learned  to  feel  the  wants  and  ne¬ 
cessities  of  the  common  people.  His  self-education  taught  him  les¬ 
sons  not  easily  forgotten.  The  life  he  led  in  his  early  days  gave 
him  much  strength  and  popularity  among  his  fellows. 

Every  country  must  have  its  leaders.  The  cares  of  state  rest  upon 
official  heads,  but  principle  and  sentiment  are  nursed  and  crystal¬ 
lized  by,  those  unburdened  with  official  work. 

A  cohntry  like  this,  where  gather  people  from  every  nation  of  the 
globe,  uniting  under  one  flag,  having  in  view  the  formation  of  a 
government  for  their  mutual  protection,  must  have  leaders — men 
who  advise,  direct,  and  command  for  the  common  good. 

Logan  was  a  natural  leader,  both  as  a  soldier  and  as  a  statesman. 
He  had  few  equals  in  either  sphere,  and  still  less  in  the  two  com¬ 
bined.  It  is  difficult  to  determine  in  which  character  he  excelled 
most.  In  either  he  served  his  country  nobly  and  well. 

As  a  soldier  he  was  fearless ;  was  as  gallant  as  he  was  brave,  as 
generous  as  he  was  firm. 

In  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  afterwards  in  the  Senate,  he 
was  the  author  and  advocate  of  measures  of  great  national  interest. 
He  took  front  rank  as  a  legislator,  always  advocating  whatever  he 
believed  to  be  right  and  for  the  interest  of  the  people.  If  he  erred, 
it  was  an  error  of  the  head  and  not  of  the  heart. 

When  the  late  war  broke  out  he  was  not  politically  identified  with 
the  administration  then  in  power.  He  was  not  in  harmony  with  the 
party  that  had  its  conduct  and  responsibility.  But  his  love  for  the 
old  flag  that  had  once  led  him  to  victory,  his  devotion  and  loyalty 
to  the  country  that  had  given  him  birth,  lifted  him  far  above  party, 


Address  of  Mr.  Caswell ,  of  Wisconsin. 


145 


its  ties  or  prejudice.  It  was  enough  for  him  that  his  country  was  in 
peril.  Whatever  party  could  suppress  the  rebellion  was  the  party 
of  John  A.  Logan. 

The  memories  of  his  youth  when  he  marched  in  triumph  to  the 
capital  of  Mexico  revived  his  love  and  devotion  for  his  country, 
and  again  he  was  found  in  the  front  ranks  of  our  Army.  He  went 
to  battle  not  as  a  stranger,  but  with  a  practical  experience  that  well 
fitted  him  for  duty.  We  had  generals  trained  in  the  arts  of  war, 
men  of  experience,  educated  for  the  purpose,  men  with  commissions 
and  arms  already  in  line.  But  these  were  not  sufficient.  Our  coun¬ 
try  called  for  volunteers.  With  them  and  the  millions  behind  them 
everything  was  possible;  without  them,  nothing.  General  Logan 
was  the  representative  of  that  element.  He  was  early  in  the  field. 
Thousands  followed  him,  and  the  Union  Army  was  swollen  to  enor¬ 
mous  proportions.  These  were  the  soldiery  that  saved  the  Union; 
without  them  it  could  never  have  been  saved.  It  matters  little 
whether  Logan  was  always  right  or  seldom  wrong,  the  ends  which 
he  gained  hide  from  view  the  manner  in  which  they  were  accom¬ 
plished.  His  military  career  was  a  success,  and  history  will  record 
him  as  a  great  leader  of  men. 

When  the  war  was  over  he  turned  again  to  the  pursuits  of  civil 
life,  but  he  could  not  long  remain  a  student  of  his  own  affairs.  He 
saw  before  him  a  disordered  Government  and  a  suffering  people,  a 
people  who  had  claims  upon  the  country  they  had  saved.  He  obeyed 
the  summons  that  sent  him  to  the  national  Capitol.  Here  he  made  a 
record  of  which  we  are  proud,  a  record  that  places  him  with  those 
whose  names  will  be  revered  by  generations  yet  to  come. 

As  an  orator  General  Logan  had  few  superiors.  His  force  and  logic 
gave  emphasis  to  his  easy  flow  of  language,  and  he  carried  conviction 
with  marvelous  success.  He  was  industrious,  a  close  student,  and 
deep  thinker.  Fearlessly  he  approached  his  subject  and  pressed  it 
upon  his  hearers  with  great  force  and  eloquence. 

For  many  years  he  has  been  the  acknowledged  friend  of  the  Union 
soldier.  The  man  who  had  spent  his  vigor  and  was  wasting  away 
or  who  was  wounded  or  maimed  found  in  him  a  most  earnest  advo¬ 
cate.  He  treated  such  as  the  wards  of  the  nation.  His  sympathetic 
heart  felt  the  sacrifice  they  had  made  that  our  country  might  live. 
He  believed  in  them  and  in  their  patriotism  when  they  risked  their 
lives  and  went  to  the  field.  He  would  have  placed  the  strong  arm 
10  L 


146 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


of  the  Government  about  them  and  stayed  them  up  in  their  declining 
years.  For  these  men  his  liberality  had  no  limit, 

The  year  which  has  just  passed  has  laid  to  rest  some  of  the  grand¬ 
est  men  of  our  time.  The  angel  of  death  has  selected  from  the  wisest 
and  the  best.  Among  them  no  one  will  be  mourned  more  than  he 
of  whom  we  speak  to-day.  He  was  known  and  red  of  by  all  men,  by 
the  young  and  the  old.  In  every  State,  in  every  city  and  town,  the 
name  of  JoHif  A.  Logan  is  dear  to  those  who  love  their  country  and 
its  defenders. 

His  death  carries  sorrow  and  grief  into  the  homes  of  the  millions, 
and  they  join  ns  to-day  in  these  words  of  praise. 

His  great  service  as  a  soldier  in  two  wars,  his  distinguished  ability 
as  a  statesman,  his  power  and  eloquence  upon  the  rostrum,  his  devo¬ 
tion  to  the  poor  and  the  suffering  have  made  him  dear  to  the  Ameri¬ 
can  people,  and  he  will  be  remembered  and  loved  as  the  great  soldier 
statesman  by  generations  yet  to  come. 


Address  of  Mr.  O’Hara,  of  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  The  man  who  so  conducts  the  order  of  his  life  that 
when  the  summons  comes  bidding  him  join  the  majority  beyond,  and 
leave  vacant  his  chair  at  the  family  board,  the  social  circle,  or  the 
nation’s  council,  where  he  was  wont  to  be  met,  as  to  leave  behind  him 
indelibly  impressed  upon  his  age  marks  or  traits  of  character  worthy 
of  emulation,  that  man  has  not  lived  in  vain  ;  the  world  and  his  fel¬ 
lows  are  benefited  by  his  being.  And  such  a  life  may  fitly  be  said  to 
be  like  unto  “  a  tree  planted  by  the  rivers  of  water  that  bringeth 
forth  his  fruit  in  his  season,  whose  leaves  shall  not  wither,”  and 
whom  no  evil  can  befall,  whether  he  be  alive  or  dead. 

Sir,  when  the  history  of  our  times  shall  come  to  be  written  by  the 
just  and  impartial  historian  the  order  of  a  life  as  I  have  just  de¬ 
scribed  will  be  accredited  to  the  late  General  John  A.  Logan. 

To-day  the  House  of  Representatives  pauses  and  for  the  time  being 
sets  aside  the  work  of  legislation  that  must  for  weal  or  woe  affect 
the  living,  and  with  bowed  heads  and  hearts  filled  with  sympathy 
face  the  stern  realities  of  death,  and  recognize  that  a  great  light  has 
gone  out  from  among  the  nation’s  counsellors,  no  more  to  raise  his 
voice  in  defense  of  right,  or  lift  an  arm  to  strike  a  blow  in  behalf  of 
justice  and  protection  to  the  weak  and  humble  poor,  who  from  every 


Address  of  Mr.  O'Hara,  of  North  Carolina.  147 

city,  village,  and  hamlet  in  the  land  bewail  his  loss,  and  join  with 
us  at  this  hour  in  placing  to  his  memory  from  the  storehouse  of 
thought  ointments  of  sweet-smelling  savor,  mingled  with  fragrant 
flowers,  plucked  from  the  garden  of  kindness,  sown  by  the  noble 
deeds  of  him  whom  they  called  friend.  Sir,  my  acquaintance  with 
the  late  Senator  Logan  was  not  such  an  one  as  would  entitle  me  to 
speak  of  his  many  great  and  noble  qualities  as  father,  husband,  or 
friend,  or  soldier.  This  I  leave  for  those  who  enjoyed  a  place  in  his 
social  circle,  and  whose  contact  with  him  in  every-day  life  gave  them 
the  opportunities  to  speak  as  they  have  of  him  in  that  regard. 

Hence  in  the  brief  remarks  that  I  shall  submit  I  will  speak  of  the 
illustrious  dead  from  that  portion  of  his  life  that  shines  forth  with 
such  effulgency  as  to  strike  the  admiration  of  all,  whether  friend  or 
foe.  Sir,  if  there  was  any  one  trait  of  that  strong  character  that  ap¬ 
peared  stronger  than  the  other  it  was  his  great  love  for  his  country 
and  the  deep  and  abiding  faith  that  his  country  was  destined  by  God 
himself  to  be  that  country  in  which  liberty  in  its  broadest  and  most 
comprehensive  term  should  find  its  greatest  fulfillment.  It  was,  sir, 
this  love  of  country  that  made  him  search  after  truth,  and  when 
found,  according  to  the  lights  before  him  he  disregarded  party  tenets 
or  dictation  ;  yea,  even  the  counsel  of  friends  if  they  in  the  least  ap¬ 
peared  to  jar  with  what  his  reason  and  his  heart  suggested  to  be  for 
the  interest  of  his  wdiole  country.  He  may  be  charged  by  those  who 
are  accustomed  blindly  to  follow  leadership,  or  to  look  only  upon  the 
surface  for  results,  of  being  sometimes  harsh  and  impetuous  with 
those  who  did  not  agree  with  him.  Yet,  sir,  such,  if  they  would 
delve  deep  for  causes  and  effects,  will  find  that  such  a  nature  as  his, 
accustomed  to  reach  results  by  direct  reasoning  with  truth,  avoiding 
ingenious  methods,  could  have  no  patience  nor  tolerance  for  that 
sophistry  which  would  endeavor  to  make  the  worst  appear  the  better 
reason  ;  and  having  himself  a  strong  and  determined  will,  abject 
submission  to  the  will  or  dictation  of  others  when  in  conflict  with 
what  he  believed  right  could  not  be  understood  or  appreciated  by 
him. 

No  greater  example  of  love  for  one’s  country  can  be  found  than 
Logan’s  patriotic  act  when  he  exchanged  a  seat  upon  this  floor  for 
a  common  soldier’s  lot  amid  the  stern  realities  and  severity  of  camp 
life  wdien  the  well-being  of  his  country  was  threatened,  the  Union 
endangered,  and  sound  to  arms  for  the  right  was  heard  all  over  the 


148 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


land.  How  well  lie  kept  that  pledge  he  then  made  let  the  answer 
be  given  by  the  fifty-two  well-fought  battles  in  which  he  was  suc¬ 
cessfully  engaged  from  July  21,  1861,  to  April  26,  1865. 

It  was  in  that  great  struggle  of  arms,  when  reason  had  resigned  her 
throne  to  force,  and  slavery,  with  its  attendant  evils  of  prejudice  and 
malcontent,  demanded  a  larger  recognition  .than  it  then  shared,  or  a 
dismembered  Union,  that  General  Logan  saw  that  his  country’s  great-  • 
ness  and  happiness  could  only  be  permanently  secured  by  plucking 
from  her  escutcheon  the  degraded  ensignia  of  human  slavery. 

As  the  effulgent  blaze  of  this  great  truth  flashed  upon  his  mental 
vision  he  quickly  disregarded  the  teachings  and  erroneous  doctrines 
of  his  youth,  and  swiftly,  without  apology  or  excuse,  espoused  the 
cause  of  liberty  for  all  men  under  the  Constitution  of  our  common 
country.  Others  might  have  halted  to  consider  consequences,  or 
been  laggards  in  the  race,  endeavoring  for  policy’s  sake  to  find  or 
render  excuses  for  a  change  in  their  opinion  and  action,  but  to 
Logan’s  noble  nature  excuse  or  apology  was  unnecessary  ;  to  dare  to 
do  right  with  the  lights  before  him  was  enough,  and  none  dared  to 
question  the  sincerity  of  his  motives  or  action.  General  Logan 
engaged  in  the  conflict  of  arms  to  preserve  the  Union  of  States  with 
a  belief  that  the  Dred  Scott  decision  was  right  and  just;  he  came 
from  that  conflict  with  a  greater  love  for  his  country  and  the  Union 
of  States,  but  with  a  firm  belief  that  the  black  man  should  have  the 
same  rights  and  protection  under  our  Constitution  and  laws  that  all 
other  men  had  and  enjoyed.  As  he  loved  his  country  when  her  laws 
recognized  property  in  man,  he  adored  her  with  an  infinite  adora¬ 
tion  when  all  her  children  were  acknowledged  equals  before  her  laws. 
If  in  the  ranks  as  an  humble  follower  before,  now  he  assumed  a 
leadership  which  was  gladly  accorded  him. 

From  the  day  he  doffed  his  military  garb  and  assumed  his  position 
in  civil  life  he  boldly  proclaimed  on  every  occasion  by  word  and 
deed  that  the  nation’s  strength  was  securest  and  best  when  all  her 
children  enjoyed  the  full  benefit  of  equal  laws,  justly  and  impartially 
administered,  and  for  his  party  he  would  discharge  his  full  duty  to 
God,  his  country,  and  humanity. 

Deeds  like  these  will  live  in  song  and  story  and  be  recounted  when 
and  wherever  the  bards  or  historians  gather  to  recite  noble  deeds 
for  the  emulation  of  the  youth  of  this  or  any  other  land.  Next  to 
General  Logan’s  great  love  for  his  country  was  his  love  and  vener- 


Address  of  Mr.  Goff ,  of  West  Virginia.  149 

ation  for  his  comrades  in  arms,  a  love  and  veneration  so  pure  and 
holy  that  it  blessed  both  him  that  gave  and  him  that  received,  so 
that  when  the  dread  summons  came  that  bade  that  noble  soul  sunder 
the  golden  cord  of  life  and  leave  its  cerements  of  clay,  to  put  off 
mortality  and  put  on  immortality,  every  one  of  his  late  comrades  in 
.  arms  felt  that  not  only  their  great  volunteer  leader  had  crossed  the 
river  invisible  to  mortal  view,  but  also  that  a  friend,  an  advocate, 
and,  yea,  almost  a  father,  had  been  taken  from  them. 

Mr.  Speaker,  this  ceremony  is  not  solely  in  honor  of  the  dead, 
for  neither —  ,  : 

Can  storied  urn,  or  animated  bust, 

Back  to  its  mansion  call  the  fleeting  breath? 

Can  honor’s  voice  provoke  the  silent  dust, 

Or  flatt’ry  soothe  the  dull  cold  ear  of  death  ? 

• 

But,  sir,  it  is  that  the  lesson  of  this  noble  life,  ended  so  suddenly, 
yet  filled  with  honor  and  usefulness,  may  be  emphasized  and  adorned 
as  far  as  we  are  able  to  emphasize  and  adorn  it;  that  the  same  love 
of  country,  love  for  one’s  fellow,  may  be  held  up  as  a  noble  exam¬ 
ple  to  those  who  may  come  after  us,  and  that  posterity  may  know 
that  the  American  Republic  has  and  can  produce  heroes  equal  to  if 
not  surpassing  in  valor,  fidelity,  and  patriotism  the  fabled  heroes  of 
ancient  Greece  or  Rome.  With  full  measure  the  lesson  comes  to  ns 
that — 

The  boast  of  heraldry,  the  pomp  of  power, 

And  all  that  beauty,  all  that  wealth,  e’er  gave, 

Await  alike  the  inevitable  hour  ;  • 

The  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave. 


Address  of  Mr.  Goff,  of  West  Virginia. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  We  honor  ourselves  in  honoring  the  memory  of 
John  A.  Logan.  Nothing  that  we  can  say  or  do  to-day  can  add  to 
nor  detract  from  the  renown  of  onr  distinguished  dead,  for  it  is  no  less 
than  fame  proclaims  it,  and  it  could  be  no  greater  than  it  is.  Those 
who  knew  him  well  will  cherish  their  recollections  of  him  through 
life,  and  the  nation  in  whose  interests  he  lived,  for  whose  supremacy 
he  contended,  will,  in  chiseled  marble  and  enduring  bronze,  cause 
him  to  speak  with  lips  that  will  move  not,  yet  talk,  to  those  who 
loved  him  in  life,  who  sincerely  mourn  him  in  death,  and  to  millions 
innumerable  of  those  who,  coming  with  the  generations  yet  unborn, 


150  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

will  honor  his  patriotism,  his  honesty,  his  sterling  worth,  and  will 
worship  at  the  shrine  of  human  liberty,  at  which  he  knelt  with  all 
the  earnestness  of  his  grand  manhood. 

Mr.  Speaker,  General  Logan  was  the  idol  of  the  citizen  soldiery 
of  the  war  for  the  Union,  and  he  was  worthy  of  their  admiration, 
for  he  was  as  grand  as  his  cause  and  as  true  as  steel.  It  is  not  dis¬ 
paragement  to  our  grand  galaxy  of  volunteer  heroes  to  say  that 
among  the  many  he  was  the  one.  As  the  magnificent  image  of  the 
Christ-God  in  the  great  cathedral  of  Monreale  dominates  the  im¬ 
mensity  of  the  building,  as  Pallas  ruled  supreme  in  the  Parthenon, 
and  Zeus  in  his  Olympian  temple,  so  does  the  name  of  Logan  alone 
transcendental  stand  among  that  throng  of  heroes,  dominating  as 
with  a  single  impulse  the  hearts  of  those  who,  neglecting  all  pur¬ 
suits,  abandoning  all  professions,  leaving  home,  wife,  children,  all, 
of  every  creed  and  all  parties,  marched  under  the  banner  of  the 
Union  “into  the  very  jaws  of  death”  and  tasted  of  the  bitter  dregs 
of  the  cup  of  sorrow  and  of  pain  in  order  that  republican  institu¬ 
tions  might  not  perish  from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

General  Logan  lived  in  an  eventful  period  and  died  in  the  full¬ 
ness  of  his  glory.  He  was  an  active  participant  in  the  memorable 
struggles  that  will  render  the  ninteenth  century  famous  in  battle 
and  in  history.  He  was  no  laggard  in  the  strife,  but  he  was  always 
to  the  front  with  the  banner  in  his  hands.  He  was  determined  in 
his  purposes,  sincere  in  his  convictions,  and  grand  in  his  achieve¬ 
ments.  Contending  for  republican  government,  he  lived  to  see  the 
Constitution  of  his  country  cleansed  of  impurities  and  firmly  estab¬ 
lished  on  the  eternal  principles  of  truth  and  justice.  He  was  a  dev¬ 
otee  at  the  shrine  of  human  liberty,  and  he  lived  to  see  all  men  free. 
He  believed  in  the  education  of  the  people,  and  he  lived  to  see  his 
country  blessed  with  the  grandest  system  of  free  universal  educa¬ 
tion  that  a  propitious  Providence  has  ever  permitted  the  children  of 
men  to  enjoy.  With  all  the  earnestness  of  his  impulsive  nature  did 
he  love  the  starry  banner  of  our  independence,  the  emblem  of  our 
nation’s  power,  and  he  lived  to  see  it  typify,  at  last,  all  that  is  great 
in  human  action,  all  that  is  grand  in  human  thought. 

It  is  not  laudation  for  us  to  say  that  in  all  these  stirring  scenes 
and  wonderful  changes  he  played  a  leader’s  part  and  that  he  stamped 
his  strong  individuality  on  these  pages,  so  grandly  written  in  the 
book  of  our  history.  It  is  but  common  justice  for  us  to  concede  it. 


Address  of  Mr.  Osborne,  of  Pennsylvania.  151 

He  is  dead ;  he  has  gone.  It  seems  hut  yesterday  that  he  was  here, 
that  we  welcomed  him  with  the  cordial  greeting  he  always  received, 
and  to  which  he  was  always  entitled,  and  now  the  places  that  have 
known  him  so  long  and  so  well  will  see  him  not  again  forever,  and 
yet  he  will  live  here  for  all  time.  He  will  be  with  ns,  Mr.  Speaker, 
while  we  tarry,  and  he  will  stay  after  we  have  gone.  .  His  is  one  of 
those  illustrious  lives  that  death  can  not  destroy. 

Loving  husband,  kind  father,  honored  statesman,  grand  soldier, 
true  friend,  honest  man,  may  your  sleep  in  the  quiet  city  of  the  dead 
be  the  rest  of  those  who, 

Sustained  and  soothed 

By  an  unfaltering  trust,  approach  their  grave 
Like  one  who  wraps  the  drapery  of  his  couch 

^  About  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams; 

and  may  the  boundless  mercy  of  the  lowly  Nazarene,  who  gave  us 
the  precepts  of  your  true  and  Christian  life,  and  who,  as  the  Christ 
King,  washed  all  your  sins  away,  save  you  to  the  eternal  glories  of 
the  heavenly  kingdom ;  that  such  a  life  and  such  a  death  as  yours 
proclaim  must  be. 


Address  of  Mr.  Osborne,  of  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  Speaker:  We  come  to  pay  tribute  to  the  memory  of  John  A. 
Logan,  whose  name  has  rung  through  the  world  and  won  its  meed 
of  praise. 

Living  men  may  contemplate  his  character  and  draw  from  it  les¬ 
sons  of  purest  virtue  and  loftiest  patriotism.  His  whole  career  was 
a  bright  example  of  unselfish  devotion  to  duty. 

Indeed  the  Republic  drew  profit  from  his  life.  In  centuries  to 
come,  amid  the  grandeur  of  its  power  and  the  unclouded  splendor  of 
its  renown,  the  historian  of  our  country  will  point  to  Logan  as  one 
who  did  much  in  his  day  to  save  the  Republic  from  death. 

Sounding  words  can  not  tell  the  strength  of  mind,  the  physical 
courage,  the  daring  and  fortitude  that  made  up  his  character.  When 
he  led  our  flag  to  victory  and  gave  to  glory  and  to  fame  the  fields  on 
which  armies  struggled,  when  amid  the  carnage  of  the  hour  he  rode 
along  his  line,  suffering  with  pain  from  bleeding  wounds,  inspiring 
his  troops  with  his  own  brave  spirit,  until  like  a  restless  wave  they 
swept  away  every  obstacle,  the  selfish  and  ungenerous  may  have 
spoken  unkindly  of  him,  but  now  that  he  is  beyond  the  reach  of  am- 


♦ 


152  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

bition  the  man  does  not  live  who  would  have  the  name  of  John  A, 
Logan  forgotten.  His  is  a  name  that  the  world  will  not  willingly 
let  die.  He  needs  no  splendid  arches  of  victory,  no  monumental  pile 
pointing  toward  heaven  and  covered  all  over  with  the  story  of  his 
deeds  to  perpetuate  his  memory,  for  he  is  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people,  there  to  remain  as  long  as  a  sentiment  of  justice  is  felt 
or  a  chord  of  sympathetic  virtue  vibrates  in  a  human  heart. 


Address  of  Mr.  Payson,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  Death  with  equal  pace  knocks  at  the  palaces  of  the 
rich  and  the  cabins  of  the  poor. 

So  often,  and  oh!  how  sadly,  has  this  Congress  been  reminded  of 
the  uncertainty  of  human  life  in  the  removal  of  members;  and  how 
many  conspicuous  in  national  affairs  have  been  taken  in  a  few  brief 
months ! 

Chief  among  them  all  was  he  whose  death  has  occasioned  this 
meeting.  It  is  held  not  as  an  exhibition  of  personal  grief  or  sadness, 
but  as  a  formal  recognition  of,  and  a  sincere  tribute  to,  honest  worth, 
to  duty  well  performed;  due  in  justice  to  his  memory,  coming  from 
those  who  knew  him  in  his  public  career,  the  record  of  which  will 
prove  an  incentive  to  emulation  to  those  who  are  left  and  are  yet  to 
come. 

The  time,  therefore,  taken  in  the  pause  in  the  hurry  and  bustle  of 
the  business  of  legislation  in  stating  estimates  of  the  character  and 
eulogies — considerate  always,  if  not  tender  and  loving — of  departed 
brothers  is  not  unprofitably  spent. 

Mr.  Speaker,  General  Logan  was  my  friend,  and  I  perform  a  sad 
duty  to  the  memory  of  one  whose  good  will  and  confidence  was  so 
prized  in  his  lifetime  by  me  when  I  attempt  to  add  a  single  leaf  to 
the  garland  of  tribute  which  shall  be  rendered  to  him  and  his  mem¬ 
ory  this  day. 

I  am  aware  too,  sir,  that  nothing  that  we  say  or  do  here  will  add 
to  the  sense  of  the  appreciation  of  the  American  people  of  General 
Logan,  of  his  excellent  character,  his  splendid  record  as  a  husband 
and  father,  a  citizen,  a  soldier,  a  statesman,  a  friend. 

The  task  of  giving  the  details  of  his  wonderful  military  career  I 
leave  to  those  who  know  from  personal  experience  its  history  and  its 
success. 


153 


\ 

Address  of  Mr.  Payson,  of  Illinois.  . 

The  fortune  of  assignment  in  these  ceremonies  absolves  me  from 
the  propriety  of  reciting  the  successes  of  his  civil  life,  as  these  have 
been  so  well  stated  by  those  who  have  preceded  me,  and  further  ref¬ 
erence  would  be  only  repetition.  And  so  I  speak  of  him  as  my 
friend ;  as  I  knew  him ;  as  he  impressed  himself  upon  me ;  as  a  man 
whose  life  was  devoted  to  the  public  good,  as  it  was  spent  almost 
wholly  in  the  public  service. 

His  chief  characteristic  to  me  was  his  earnestness  in  whatever  he 
was  engaged.  His  devotion  to  his  friends  was  conspicuous  for  its 
intensity.  His  love  for  the  soldiers  of  the  civil  war — his  companions 
in  arms — was  best  evidenced  by  his  labors  for  their  interests  and  by 
their  affection  for  him.  His  affection  for  his  State  was  as  that  of  the 
Roman  for  “the  city  of  seven  hills.”  Duty,  honor,  and  integrity 
were  Active  principles  in  his  daily  life,  and  he  squared  his  conduct 
by  their  requirements.  In  his  affections  he  was  generous  and  ardent; 
his  bravery,  his  courage  was  always  conspicuous;  true  in  his  nature 
and  of  gentle  heart,  and  magnanimous  in  all  his  dealings. 

Patriotism  with  him  was  more  than  a  sentiment ;  it  was  a  deep- 
seated  principle. 

Love  of  country,  its  institutions,  its  Constitution,  and  its  laws, 
was  his  inspiration  from  the  days  of  his  early  manhood. 

To  insincerity  he  was  a  stranger;  to  him  conviction  carried  with 
it  the  sense  of  duty  to  follow  it;  and  with  his  bravery,  his  frankness, 
no  one  was  ever  in  ignorance  as  to  his  position  on  any  question.  To 
such  a  degree  was  this  carried  that  at  times  his  position  in  his  party 
was  hazarded  by  fearless  assertion  of  his  ideas  of  right  as  opposed 
to  those  of  mere  temporary  policy  or  expediency. 

His  support  of  friend  or  measure  was  never  half-hearted  or  grudg¬ 
ing,  and  his  opposition  was  always  earnest,  vigorous,  and  determined. 

He  was  generous  to  a  fault;  though  of  strong  will,  sometimes 
regarded  as  stubborn  and  imperious,  yet  this  grew  out  of  the  intensity 
of  his  nature,  and  was  always  subordinated  to  his  keen  sense  of  right. 

General  Logan  was  a  born  leader.  He  was  endowed  by  nature 
with  all  the  attributes  and  qualities  for  such  a  position.  Believing 
that  his  party  was  right  because  its  principles  and  policy  were  so 
largely  shaped  by  him,  with  his  energy  and  dash,  his  vigor  and  ear¬ 
nestness,  his  intellectual  power  and  breadth  of  mind  vested  him  with 
the  right,  as  well  as  the  ability,  to  command  the  following  which  he 
had  in  our  State  as  well  as  in  national  affairs. 


I 


154  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

He  had  the  aggressiveness  which  always  comes  from  a  true  courage. 

Not  gifted  with  the  arts  of  the  mere  rhetorician,  yet  the  masses 
of  the  people  were  always  deeply  moved  and  largely  controlled  by 
his  earnest  appeals;  he  had  an  eloquence  which  always  accompanies 
intense  convictions,  and  which  always  made  itself  felt  where  smoother 
phrases  would  have  failed. 

His  intensity  and  devotion  to  his  own  party,  leading  to  his  vigorous 
assaults  upon  the  other,  made  him  often  the  target  of  calumny,  but  all 
shafts  of  slander  fell  idle  and  harmless,  injuring  only  the  originators. 

He  was  above  them  all;  the  slanders  of  political  campaigns  ended 
with  them;  no  friend  was  ever  weakened  by  them;  he  rested  then,  as 
now,  above  them  all,  “in  the  eternal  sunshine  of  a  perpetual  fame.” 

He  was  ambitious;  he  was  stimulated  by  the  success  which  he  at¬ 
tained,  because  deserved,  to  reach  the  highest  position  of  honor  and 
trust  in  the  nation ;  and  his  friends  cherished  the  confident  hope 
that,  had  his  life  been  spared,  he  would  have  attained  that. 

His  life  was  a  success.  Born  of  the  common  people,  without  early 
advantages  of  education  or  scholarly  association,  earning  successive 
promotions  by  the  favor  of  the  people,  with  their  confidences  and 
trusts  he  reached  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  the  highest  point 
in  political  preferment  in  the  nation  but  one. 

He  died  the  deserved  possessor  of  these  honors  and  left  his  family 
that  best  of  heritage,  a  reputation  untarnished,  an  integrity  unim¬ 
paired,  and  a  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  whole  people  that  the  loss  in 
his  death  was  one  common  to  all. 

Of  him  it  may  be  truly  said  : 

» 

Divinely  gifted  man, 

W  hose  life  in  low  estate  began, 

And  on  a  simple  village  green; 

Who  breaks  his  birth’s  invidious  bars, 

And  grasps  the  skirts  of  happy  chance 
And  breasts  the  blows  of  circumstance, 

And  grapples  with  his  evil  stars ; 

Who  makes  by  force  his  merit  known, 

And  lives  to  clutch  the  golden  keys 
To  mold  a  mighty  State’s  decrees, 

And  shape  the  whisper  of  the  throne  ; 

And  moving  up  from  high  to  higher, 

Becomes,  on  fortune’s  crowning  slope, 

The  pillar  of  a  people’s  hope, 

The  center  of  a  world’s  desire. 


Address  of  Mr.  Brady ,  of  Virginia. 


155 


Address  of  Mr.  Brady,  of  Virginia. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  Tlie  heart  that  would  not  be  sad  and  the  eye  that 
would  not  be  dim  while  memory  in  its  many  forms  clusters  around 
the  dead  patriot,  soldier,  and  statesman  in  whose  honor  the  nation’s 
Representatives  are  to-day  assembled  must  be  hard  and  dry  indeed. 

Amid  grief  so  deep  and  so  universal  no  words  of  mine  can  fitly 
portray  the  sorrow  of  the  volunteer  soldiers  of  the  war  for  the  main¬ 
tenance  of  the  Union  over  the  irreparable  loss  of  their  grand  chieftain. 
The  heart  speaks  loudest  when  the  lips  will  not  move. 

John  A.  Logan  was  regarded  as  national  property.  His  genius, 
his  virtues,  his  great  services  in  peace  and  in  war,  were  esteemed  a 
part  of  the  inheritance  of  the  whole  people.  Bold  and  direct  in  his 
opinions  and  actions,  however  they  were  sustained  or  combated,  he 
was  nevertheless  admired  by  all  for  his  great  abilities  as  he  was  hon¬ 
ored  and  respected  for  his  purity  of  character.  His  fame  was  national, 
and  his  loss  has  been  felt  as  national.  The  whole  country,  not  only 
his  State  which  loved  and  honored  him,  mourns  over  his  sad  death. 
The  evidences  of  genuine  sorrow  in  all  sections  of  our  country,  when 
his  demise  was  announced,  indicates  a  strong  national  sympathy,  a 
bond  of  union  which  political  differences  cannot  weaken,  much  less 
destroy. 

General  Logan  was  at  the  top  among  the  great  heroes  of  the  Union 
during  and  since  the  war ;  he  won  immortality  on  the  field  and  in  the 
forum ;  he  had  impressed  himself  upon  the  age,  and  he  is  missed  as 
a  shining  light  extinguished  in  the  darkest  hour  of  the  night. 

Mr.  Speaker,  “the  chevalier  of  the  army  of  the  West,  without 
stain  and  without  reproach,”  John  A.  Logan,  was  the  son  of  an  Irish 
rebel  of  ’98.  It  has  been  said  that  he  was  of  Scotch  ancestry,  but  this 
is  a  mistake.  General  Logan  himself,  at  the  reception  given  in  his 
honor  by  the  citizens  of  Virginia  City,  Nev.,  on  his  return  from  the 
last  national  encampment  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic  held 
at  San  Francisco,  in  answer  to  a  question  in  relation  to  his  ancestry, 
publicly  declared  that  there  was  not  a  drop  of  Indian  blood  in  his 
veins,  that  his  father  was  a  pure  Irishman,  and  that  although  his 
mother  was  born  in  the  State  of  North  Carolina,  her  father  and 
mother  were  both  pure  Irish.  Dr.  John  Logan,  General  Logan’s 
father,  was  very  active  as  the  associate  in  Ireland  of  Wolfe  Tone  and 


156  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

other  Irish  rebels  in  the  organization  of  the  United  Irishmen  of  ’98, 
and  on  account  of  this  activity  he  was  forced  to  leave  the  land  of  his 
forefathers  and  come  to  this  country.  Dr.  Logan  and  the  other  Irish 
rebels  of  ’98  were  inspired  by  the  noble  deeds  of  patriotic  Irishmen  in 
our  Revolutionary  war. 

The  fame  and  the  glory  of  their  countrymen,  Jeremiah  O’Brien 
and  General  Sullivan,  Commodore  Barry  and  General  Pickens, 
General  Stark  and  the  Rutledges,  Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton, 
and  Anthony  Wayne,  Sergeant  Jasper  and  General  Richard  Mont¬ 
gomery,  General  Knox  and  Charles  Thompson,  and  many  others, 
was  upon  the  lips  and  deep  in  the  hearts  of  the  ’98  men  at  home,  and 
the  Irish  blood,  so  freely  shed  in  America’s  battles  for  liberty,  had 
taken  root  upon  Irish  soil.  And  so  it  was  that  John  A.  Logan  in¬ 
herited  from  his  Irish  father  that  love  for  the  Union,  patriotism,  and 
devotion  to  civil  liberty  which  made  him  famous  among  Americans, 
and  which,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  recent  war,  naturally  led  him  to 
declare  for  the  preservation  of  this  glorious  Union,  and  impelled  him 
to  shoulder  his  musket  and  to  fight  for  Liberty  and  Union  to  the 
finish. 

I  shall  not  recount  the  splendid  story  of  his  life.  His  deeds  in  war 
and  in  peace  have  gained  for  him  imperishable  renown. 

I,  myself,  the  son  of  an  Irishman,  may  be  pardoned  for  referring 
to  General  Logan’s  ancestry,  and  to  the  part  the  race  from  which  he 
descended  took,  not  only  in  our  Revolutionary  struggle,  but  also  in 
our  late  terrible  conflict  for  the  Union.  As  Andrew  Jackson  fought 
at  New  Orleans,  McDonough  at  Lake  Champlain,  Shields  and  Rielly 
in  the  Mexican  war,  so  did  the  Irish  regiments,  the  Irish  brigade, 
and  the  Irish  legion  perform  deeds  of  valor  unsurpassed  in  the  recent 
war.  Who  among  the  surviving  veterans  of  the  Union  can  ever 
forget  Logan  and  Sheridan,  Harney  and  Mulligan,  Kearney  and 
Hayes,  Baker,  French,  McCall,  Corcoran,  Meagher,  and  thousands 
of  other  gallant  Irish  and  Irish-American  soldiers  who  fought  and 
died  that  the  nation  might  live.  Alas!  John  A.  Logan,  the  foremost 
general  of  volunteers,  is  dead.  I  think  I  can  hear  some  comrade  say, 
“  Would  that  he  had  fallen  on  the  battlefield  with  the  flag  he  loved 
so  well  waving  over  him,  and  the  shout  of  triumph  ringing  in  his 
ears.”  No;  his  task  at  the  close  of  the  war  was  only  half  finished. 
He  has  since  bravely  fought  on  other  battlefields,  and  in  the  press  of 
the  continued  conflict  he  conquered  peace,  prosperity,  and  happiness 
for  his  country.  His  journey  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  is  done. 


Address  of  Mr.  Hitt,  of  Illinois. 


157 


Brave,  gallant,  honest,  noble-hearted  Logan  tenderly  loved  the 
Boys  in  Blue.  Beloved  leader,  faithful,  steadfast  friend,  they  will 
never  forget  you.  Veterans  of  the  Union  Army,  and  old  soldiers  of 
the  Mexican  War,  it  is  manly  to  weep  and  to  mourn  over  the  grave 
of  General  Logan,  for  your  most  devoted,  your  most  powerful  friend 
and  advocate  in  the  councils  of  the  nation  is  no  more. 

He  it  was  that  originated  the  beautiful  memorial  services  over  the 
graves  of  the  soldier  dead.  Crippled  veterans  and  stalwart  soldiers, 
aged  mothers — ye,  whose  sons  were  sacrificed  upon  the  country’s  bat¬ 
tlefields — broken-hearted  widows,  comrades  of  the  Grand  Army  and 
Loyal  Legion,  sons  and  daughters  of  the  Boys  in  Blue,  upon  each  ob¬ 
servance  of  that  day  gather  the  most  beautiful,  the  most  fragrant 
flowers  of  May  and  deck  the  grave  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Address  of  Mr.  Hitt,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Speaker:  The  death  of  General  Logan  has  suddenly  removed 
the  greatest  of  the  volunteers  who  survived.  The  shock  of  surprise 
and  sorrow  was  scarcely  greater  here,  where  we  suddenly  missed  him 
from  each  day’s  action,  than  it  was  throughout  the  whole  country  ^ 
so  closely  was  he  knit  to  the  hearts  of  tens  of  thousands  who  watched 
from  day  to  day  all  that  he  did  —  and  he  did  more  than  other  men 
all  the  time.  His  abrupt  taking  off  in  the  midst  of  greatest  activity 
was  something  akin  to  falling  in  battle ;  for  there  was  no  sign  of 
coming  age  or  decaying  strength  in  his  thick  jet-black  hair,  his  keen 
eye,  and  his  powerful  frame  that  stood  four-square  to  all  the  winds 
that  blow.  He  was,  as  he  looked,  a  hearty  man,  of  sturdy,  tenacious, 
Scotch-Irish  stock.  He  drew  his  blood  from  positive,  independent 
characters,  both  father  and  mother. 

The  surroundings  in  which  his  youth  was  passed  tested  and  devel¬ 
oped  these  qualities.  He  was  of  a  good  family.  The  people  and 
events  where  he  lived  were  much  like  those  around  Lincoln,  and  the 
two  men  had  many  qualities  in  common,  owing  largely  to  their  sim¬ 
ilar  surroundings.  One  was  an  aversion  to  all  affectations.  Direct¬ 
ness  and  simplicity  in  action,  directness  in  expression  marked  both 
these  men.  In  all  their  utterances  quotations,  however  pretty  and 
tempting,  rarely  had  a  place ;  and  in  their  action,  from  first  to  last 
in  their  long  careers,  each  step  was  determined  by  an  independent 
and  singularly  clear  j  udgment.  Discipline  of  mind  had  been  attained. 


158 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


not  in  the  great  academies,  but  in  tbe  intensity  of  application  to 
affairs,  to  tbe  problems  of  daily  existence,  that  from  tbe  beginning 
insured  success  in  tbe  constant  struggles  of  life.  They  were  bard 
students,  learning  tbe  lesson  of  each  day  perfectly  to  apply  it  at  once 
to  action. 

Logan  commenced  bis  life  in  the  fashion  so  common  to  ambitious 
young  men  in  our  country  —  studying  law  and  soon  striking  off  into 
politics.  Within  a  year  from  the  time  be  commenced  studying  law 
be  was  so  practical  a  politician,  and  so  successful,  that  he  was  elected 
county  clerk.  Still  working  at  the  law,  studying  for  awhile  in  tbe 
Louisville  University,  and  still  diverging  into  politics  with  each  op¬ 
portunity,  he  reached  the  legislature  when  just  past  his  twenty-fifth 
year,  and  then  for  awhile  became  prosecuting  attorney.  There  are 
several  gentlemen  on  this  floor  who  can  remember  well  the  reputa¬ 
tion  he  so  rapidly  gained  as  a  dashing,  aggressive  criminal  lawyer — 
the  untiring  energy  with  which  he  tried  a  case.  He  soon  became 
one  of  the  Democratic  leaders  in  the  legislature,  and,  still  a  young 
man,  in  1859,  came  to  this  body. 

I  vividly  remember  him  at  that  time  when,  I  believe,  he  was  the 
youngest  member  of  the  Illinois  delegation,  full  of  strength  and 
youth,  and  of  a  hearty  defiant  nature,  always  ready  for  work,  quick 
to  help  in  a  measure  with  all  his  might,  and  prompt  to  meet  blow  for 
blow  with  all  his  zeal  and  force  in  every  contest.  Logan  did  not 
then  take  as  wide  views  of  public  questions  as  in  after  life,  but  what 
he  saw  he  saw  in  complete  clearness,  and  in  his  devotion  to  his  po¬ 
litical  views  accepting  all  their  consequences  with  a  boldness  and 
sincerity  that  looked  like  audacity.  He  had  both  moral  and  physical 
courage,  and  he  quickly  showed  it  after  he  came  here  in  that  stormy 
Congress.  It  was  a  turbulent  time,  foreshadowing  the  bloodier 
strife  soon  to  come.  He  was  an  intense  partisan,  a  Democrat  of  t^ie 
strongest  partisanship  in  that  angry  hour.  Suddenly  when  the  at¬ 
tack  was  made  upon  his  country,  and  the  Union  was  in  danger,  he 
changed  squarely. 

Think  how  much  such  a  strong  nature  had  to  give  up  and  over¬ 
come  in  his  own  heart  when  he  abandoned  his  party  and  rushed  in 
with  those  whom  he  had  not  only  opposed,  but  really  had  often  de¬ 
tested.  And  this  he  did,  not  by  halves,  but  throwing  away  every¬ 
thing  at  once,  devoting  his  whole  being  to  his  country.  It  was  a 
noble  and  exalted  patriotism  in  a  soul  tried  and  purified  by  a  great 


Address  of  Mr.  Hitt ,  of  Illinois. 


159 


inward  struggle,  and  then  grandly  consecrated  to  his  country.  In 
that  memorable  hour  there  were  many  instances  of  men  who  de¬ 
veloped  great  qualities  before  unknown  to  themselves.  It  is  profit¬ 
able  now,  in  these  prosaic  days  of  politics,  that  run  on  lower  lines 
and  colder  questions  when  some  of  the  chief  party  differences  are  mat¬ 
ters  of  calculation,  to  refresh  our  spirits  by  recurring  to  that  heroic 
epoch  when  the  shock  of  conflicting  motives  liberated  the  electricity 
of  life  and  revealed  the  recesses  of  men’s  better  natures. 

Then  he  became  altogether  a  soldier.  He  had  a  natural  aptitude 
for  fighting.  When  hardly  more  than  a  boy  he  had  had  a  dash  of 
military  life  in  the  Mexican  war,  where  he  acquitted  himself  well, 
and,  short  as  was  the  time  he  served,  rose  rapidly  to  honor  and  rank. 
In  the  greater  war  that  followed  he  was  utterly  absorbed  and  devoted 
to  the  cahse  for  which  he  fought.  He  had  no  other  thought.  He 
quit  his  seat  in  Congress  and  went  out  as  a  citizen  volunteer  to  share 
in  the  fight  and  the  disaster  of  Bull  Run.  He  hurried  home  and 
raised  a  regiment  and  plunged  into  the  struggle.  From  the  first 
fight  at  Belmont  he  was  in  the  clang  of  arms,  through  marches, 
skirmishes,  sieges,  battles;  advancing,  retreating,  defending,  attack¬ 
ing,  as  perfect  a  type  of  the  great  and  successful  soldier  as  ever 
lived.  His  strong  frame  and  undaunted  spirit  was  not  subdued  or 
broken  by  exposure,  exhaustion,  or  the  wounds  five  times  received 
in  battle.  Pressing  on  continuously  and  upward,  he  rose  higher  in 
command  with  each  battle  and  campaign  until  he  ran  the  whole 
scale  of  military  glory  which  he  had  begun  a  citizen  without  uniform, 
and  from  which  he  emerged  a  corps  commander. 

His  soldiers  admired  him  with  an  enthusiasm  that  grew  with  the 
war  and  with  his  glory.  They  followed  him  with  trusting  confidence 
and  they  loved  him  then  and  always  after.  His  warm  heart  an¬ 
swered  in  generous  sympathy  this  affectionate  admiration  from  his 
thousands  of  soldiers,  and  this  was  why  he  never  for  a  moment  for¬ 
got  them  or  their  interests  in  all  his  public  life  through  the  more 
than  twenty  years  that  have  passed  since  the  war.  All  the 
world  knows  with  what  eloquence  he  pleaded  their  cause  on  this 
floor  and  in  the  Senate.  Patiently  and  persistently  he  contended  for 
them  in  a  hundred  parliamentary  struggles  over  bills  which  con¬ 
cerned  them.  He  pressed  with  passionate  earnestness  the  claims  of 
the  broken  soldier  and  the  debt  owing  to  him  by  that  nation  which 
was  so  rapidly  forgetting  him  in  its  hurry  to  greatness  and  riches. 


160  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

And  when  their  Senator  comrade  died  the  soldiers  lost  a  friend 
whose  devotion  to  them  nothing  hut  death  could  diminish.  There 
has  been  sorrow  in  the  countless  homes  of  soldiers,  especially  in  the 
Northwest. 

Every  member  from  that  region  who  sits  about  me  has  been 
touched  by  the  letters  we  constantly  receive  from  constituents  refer¬ 
ring  to  the  loss  of  Logan.  Their  sorrow  is  akin  to  the  anguish  felt 
in  his  own  family,  by  that  silent  fireside,  where  the  honored  lady 
who  shared  his  labors  and  his  triumphs  now  weeps  through  desolate 
days  and  nights  for  the  noble  husband  so  suddenly  stricken  down. 

He  was  a  plain  and  approachable  man.  The  soldier  class  respected 
him  as  a  great  captain,  and  they  loved  him  because  of  his  simple 
way  of  life.  Poor  in  purse  but  rich  in  manly  qualities,  they  felt 
that  he  was  like  unto  them ;  that  they  could  go  near  him  as  a  com¬ 
rade  ;  that  he  understood  their  troubles ;  that  he  appreciated  their 
services  and  their  sacrifices ;  that  their  story  never  grew  old  to  him 
though  the  war  was  over  long  ago. 

He  was  as  bold  and  successful  a  manager  in  politics  as  in  war. 
His  political  campaigns  were  always  aggressive.  He  had  strong  be¬ 
liefs.  His  principles  were  clear  to  his  own  mind,  and  he  pressed 
them  with  vehement  eloquence,  meeting  controversy  half  way  by 
fearless  attack.  When  assailed  he  always  turned  his  defense  into  a 
fierce  assault.  He  was  a  most  effective  stump  orator.  As  early  as 
1858,  in  that  famous  campaign,  led  on  either  side  by  Lincoln  and 
Douglas,  and  so  fruitful  of  great  consequences,  he  was  one  of  the 
best  speakers  in  the  State.  His  voice  was  so  powerful  then,  and  for 
ten  years  afterwards,  that  it  reached  the  farthest  limits  of  the  enor¬ 
mous  gatherings  that  always  assembled  when  the  people  heard  that 
Logan  was  to  speak.  His  positive  and  direct  style,  and  vigorous, 
plain  reasoning  went  .straight  to  men’s  minds.  He  had  a  rollicking 
humor  at  times,  and  often,  especially  in  his  speeches  during  and 
after  the  war,  a  fiery  rush  of  passionate  appeal  that  swept  great  au¬ 
diences  into  stormy  enthusiasm. 

In  counsel  with  his  party  he  inspired  confidence  by  his  own  confi- 

» 

dence,  and  also  by  his  caution  and  his  boldness  combined.  He  knew 
Illinois  politics  even  to  the  details  of  each  county,  and  gradually 
became  the  leading  spirit  in  the  Republican  party  there,  whom  all 
consulted.  The  success  that  followed  him  like  destiny  through  so 
many  struggles  confirmed  his  supremacy.  When  he  died  he  was 
the  representative  Republican  of  that  great  State. 


Address  of  Mr.  Hitt,  of  Illinois. 


161 


There  was  one  specially  manly  trait  in  his  character  which  all  the 
politicians  in  Illinois  knew  full  well — his  devotion  to  the  interests  of 
a  friend.  No  matter  whether  he  was  present  to  push  his  cause  or 
not,  Logan  did  not  forget  him.  He  was  not  vindictive  enough  to 
remember  his  anger  long  after  a  contest  with  an  opponent,  but  he 
was  careful,  even  tenacious,  in  remembering  a  friend  who  had  done 
or  suffered  for  him,  and  never  failed  to  watch  over  all  that  con¬ 
cerned  him. 

The  minor  features  and  details  in  the  long  story  of  his  life  and  its 
work  will  gradually  lose  some  of  their  interest  as  those  who  have 
known  him  pass  away  with  advancing  time.  But  there  are  some 
immense  facts  which  will  last  in  history  and  preserve  his  name 
through  many  centuries,  keeping  it  fresh  in  the  knowledge  of  men. 

First.  The  great  service  he  rendered  to  his  country  as  a  soldier  in 
the  most  critical  period  in  the  life  of  the  Republic. 

Second.  His  incessant  labors  as  a  legislator  for  over  thirty  years 
in  behalf  of  every  measure  that  he  believed  to  be  for  the  elevation 
of  all  the  people.  He  made  a  mistake  sometimes,  but  as  soon  as  he 
discovered  it  he  promptly  changed  and  frankly  avowed  it.  His  whole 
life  was  progress.  He  wanted  to  see  the  children  of  the  poorest  man 
educated.  He  encouraged  love  of  country  and  care  for  those  who 
suffered  for  it.  He  strove  to  build  up  and  develop  every  interest 
and  every  industry  that  would  tend  to  make  the  lives  of  poor  men 
comfortable,  intelligent,  and  happy.  He  gave  in  his  own  life  an  ex¬ 
ample  of  spotless  integrity  as  a  public  man.  He  was  full  of  ambi¬ 
tion,  but  nothing  in  it  was  sordid  or  venal.  His  ambitions  were  all 
noble.  He  gave  the  best  years  of  his  life  to  the  cause  of  free  gov¬ 
ernment  and  human  liberty. 

Looking  back  to-day  over  his  splendid  career,  cut  off  when  he  was 
in  his  highest  usefulness,  every  one  feels  the  great  loss  the  nation 
suffered  on  the  day  when  that  incompleted  life  was  abruptly  termi¬ 
nated.  There  seemed  many  years  before  him  still  to  serve  the 
country  he  loved  so  well  with  his  great  powers  matured  by  long  and 
varied  experience. 

But  it  is  over.  His  work  is  done.  The  story  of  Logan’s  life  will 
illumine  the  brightest  pages  of  our  history,  and  the  fruits  of  his 
incessant  labors,  all  devoted  to  his  country  and  his  fellow-men,  and 
known  to  all  the  world,  will  preserve  his  name  and  perpetuate  his 
influence  beyond  his  life  through  all  the  long  hereafter. 

11  L 


162 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Address  of  Mr.  Cox,  of  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Speaker  and  Representatives  :  It  gives  me  pleasure  to 
unite  with  you  in  this  Hall  to  do  honor  to  the  memory  of  the  dis¬ 
tinguished  soldier  and  statesman  who  was  recently  stricken  down  in 
the  pride  of  manhood  and  in  the  midst  of  usefulness.  I  discharge 
this  duty  the  more  cheerfully  as  it  is  a  manifestation  of  that  broad 
and  comprehensive  patriotism  which  underlies  the  American  charac¬ 
ter,  and,  in  the  presence  of  misfortune,  unites  us  as  one.  We  are 
all  citizens  of  a  great  and  glorious  country,  having  common  hopes 
and  aspirations,  and  while  it  is  still  in  early  manhood,  and  with 
material  resources  by  no  means  developed,  far  surpasses  in  its  ac¬ 
complishments  all  similar  creations  of  the  past.  We  should  and  do 
appreciate  the  blessings  and  unusual  advantages  we  here  enjoy,  and 
it  is  the  inspiration  arising  from  the  freedom  of  our  institutions  and 
the  progress  of  our  people  that  made  possible  the  successful  career 
of  John  A.  Logan. 

Seldom  in  history,  do  we  behold  illustrious  examples  of  success 
achieved  through  individual  efforts  in  more  than  one  special  calling, 
and  thus  is  made  more  emphatic  the  blended  triumphs  we  in  him 
behold.  Without  the  heritage  of  fortune  or  the  prestige  of  an  illus¬ 
trious  name,  John  A.  Logan  sprang  from  the  loins  of  the  people; 
he  claimed  leadership  among  men,  and  by  industry,  integrity,  and 
high  resolves  the  ranks  were  open  to  him  ;  he  marched  to  the  front, 
and  held  his  position  until  the  last  dread  summons  came.  A  man 
of  strong  purpose,  unyielding  disposition,  and  fearless  in  the  asser¬ 
tion  of  his  convictions,  he  was  an  adversary  not  willingly  to  be  en¬ 
countered.  He  was  too  much  of  a  partisan  to  suffer  the  betrayal  of 
his  party  into  the  hands  of  those  who  would  seek  its  advancement 
by  questionable  means  and  ambiguous  methods.  When  he  believed 
it  necessary  to  assert  the  right  and  expose  the  wrong,  his  blows  fell 
as  unrelentingly  on  the  head  of  a  party  friend  as  on  that  of  a  politi¬ 
cal  adversary.  To  maintain  a  political  leadership  under  such  cir¬ 
cumstances  required  commanding  talents  and  distinguished  virtues. 

By  the  adjustment  of  his  garments  to  suit  the  popular  eye,  by  the 
adaptation  of  his  language  to  catch  the  popular  ear,  and  by  graces 
of  manner  to  win  the  multitude  Cicero  succeeded  in  securing  ap¬ 
plause  for  beautiful  orations ;  but  the  impression  was  transient. 


Address  of  Mr.  Cox,  of  North  Carolina,  163 

Not  so  with  Demosthenes,  the  Athenian.  He  labored  nnder  a  natural 
impediment  of  speech  which  welling  thoughts  commanded  to  he 
overcome ;  and  when  he  arose  to  address  an  audience  they  bent  upon 
his  words,  their  passions  were  aroused,  and  they  cried  out,  “We 
will  march  against  Philip ;  we  will  conquer  or  die.”  While  I  do 
not  compare  the  subject  of  these  ceremonies  as  a  debater  to  this 
matchless  orator,  yet  there  was  a  resemblance  between  them.  Lo¬ 
gan  was  without  the  adventitious  aid  of  a  polished  education  by 
which  to  express  his  thoughts,  yet  he  drove  directly  to  his  subject, 
and  never  despaired  so  long  as  there  was  hope  of  success.  Upon  the 
battlefield,  as  in  the  forum,  there  was  similarity  of  action. 

A  volunteer  soldier,  he  looked  not  so  much  to  the  method  as  to  the 
ob  j ect  to  be  accomplished.  He  wielded  not  the  high-tempered  cimeter 
of  a  Saladin,  but  rather  the  trenchant,  two-edged  sword  of  Richard 
the  Lion-Hearted.  That  one  of  his  ardent,  sanguine  temperament 
should  have  presented  only  the  dark  side  of  his  political  shield  to 
the  Southern  people  after  the  close  of  our  unrelenting  and  pro¬ 
tracted  civil  war  was  not  unnatural.  It  was  felt  by  us  in  the  South 
that  he  did  not  appreciate  the  sincerity  and  magnanimity  of  our  pro¬ 
fessions  of  patriotism,  which  we  knew  were  honorable  and  patriotic. 
Between  those  who  dared  and  suffered  upon  the  ensanguined  field 
there  was  no  estrangement,  no  personal  bitterness.  Too  many  were 
the  deeds  of  fraternal  kindness  rendered  upon  battlefields  and  in 
prisons,  by  those  on  either  side,  ever  to  be  forgotten. 

I  well  remember  that  amid  the  terrible  carnage  at  Chancellorsville, 
when  the  woods  were  fired  by  the  discharge  of  artillery,  as  the  wounded 
Federal  soldiers  were  in  danger  of  being  subjected  to  the  most  agoniz¬ 
ing  death  by  burning,  others  saw  as  well  as  myself  men  from  the 
confederate  picket-line  rush  out  under  the  fire  of  the  foe  and  rake 
away  the  combustible  leaves  from  around  those  disabled  by  their  own 
shot.  I  also  remember  soon  after  the  close  of  this  bloody  drama, 
when  the  “pestilence  that  walketh  in  darkness  and  the  destruction 
that  wasteth  at  noonday  ”  was  desolating  some  of  the  fairest  cities  of 
the  South,  the  generous  people  of  the  North  promptly  brought  ma¬ 
terial  aid  and  ministering  hands  to  alleviate,  if  not  to  stay,  the  terri¬ 
ble  scourge. 

Between  such  soldiers  and  such  people  there  could  be  no  enduring 
enmity.  The  grand  soldier  of  the  South  made  possible  the  grand 
soldier  of  the  North,  and  their  achievements  are  the  common  heritage 


164  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan . 

of  our  common  country.  In  this  contest  brother  was  often  arrayed 
against  brother.  They  spoke  a  common  language  and  were  of  a  com¬ 
mon  origin.  The  mistakes  of  the  earlier  part  of  the  war  as  to  each 
other’s  courage  had  been  dissipated  upon  many  bloody  fields.  They 
knew  that  this  war  was  not  of  their  own  seeking,  and  being  over, 
desired  to  return  to  their  father’s  house,  there  to  remain  in  peace.  It 
was  natural,  therefore,  they  should  view  with  resentment  the  acts  .or 
declaration  of  any  public  man  seeming  to  question  their  good  faith 
or  impugn  their  motives. 

The  strong  character  and  vehement  nature  of  General  Logan  were 
such  as  made  him  prefer  to  accomplish  his  ends  by  force  rather  than 
through  the  suggestions  of  clemency.  This  was  the  side  of  his  char¬ 
acter  which  was  presented  to  the  Southern  people,  who,  while  they 
had  confidence  in  his  integrity  and  believed  that  as  a  public  man  he 
would  fulfill  every  promise  with  the  utmost  fidelity,  yet  it  inculcated 
feelings  of  resentment  in  the  minds  of  those  who  had  not  been  brought 
into  contact  with  him. 

In  writing  and  speaking  he  was  not  always  considerate  of  the  feel¬ 
ings  of  those  to  whom  he  was  opposed  in  the  war.  Yet  while  they 
would  have  preferred  to  applaud  his  magnanimity  toward  the  van¬ 
quished,  they  are  not  strenuous  to  condemn  the  natural  impulses  of 
his  ardent  nature. 

By  his  maternal  side  he  was  descended  from  a  strong  and  patriotic 
family  of  my  own 'State,  and  in  appearance  and  manner  partook  of 
their  hardy  and  impassioned  nature.  Whether  following  the  for¬ 
tunes  of  his  great  leader,  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  before  the  war,  or 
battling  for  the  cause  of  the  Union,  or  as  a  stalwart  Republican  in 
later  days,  he  was  always  a  fearless  and  vigorous  fighter.  Many 
people  had  emigrated  from  the  South  to  Southern  Illinois  who  dur¬ 
ing  the  early  stages  of  the  war  bitterly  opposed  the  coercive  meas¬ 
ures  of  the  North.  In  their  ranks  were  found  many  who  had  been 
the  most  active  and  zealous  political  friends  of  General  Logan.  The 
sacrifices  which  at  the  call  of  his  country  sundered  these  ties  of 
friendship  left  their  ineffaceable  impress  on  his  character.  He 
burned  his  ships  behind  him  and  turned  his  face  toward  those  who 
shared  his  fortune  upon  the  tented  field. 

In  public  life  he  was  recognized  as  the  great  advocate  and  friend 
of  the  Union  soldier,  and  his  efforts  in  their  behalf  apotheosized  him 
as  their  great  political  leader.  My  personal  acquaintance  with  him 


Address  of  Mr.  Symes,  of  Colorado. 


165 


was  limited,  and  I  speak  only  from  impressions  entertained  by  those 
among  whom  I  live.  From  Southern  Representatives  with  whom 
he  served  in  Congress  I  have  heard  of  his  liberality,  sincerity,  and 
honesty  in  dealing  with  Southern  men  and  measures,  and  I  was  grati¬ 
fied  to  know  of  this  phase  of  his  character.  “  Passing  away”  is  the 
superscription  written  above  the  heads  of  all  those  who  once  wore 
the  blue  and  the  gray.  In  a  few  years  the  long  roll  will  be  beaten 
to  summons  hence  all  the  survivors  of  this  grand  martial  array. 

When  they  are  gone  the  flowers  will  bloom  as  sweetly,  the  sun 
shine  as  brightly,  tlie  silent  watches  of  the  night  move  on  as  se¬ 
renely,  and  the  world  prove  as  joyous  as  it  was  in  their  youth.  Why, 
then,  dwell  upon  the  past,  with  its  hardships  and  resentments,  when 
our  hopes  and  fears  are  now  mainly  with  the  future? 

In  conclusion  I  place  this  garland  upon  the  tomb  of  General  Logan, 
and  will  add  this — though  he  walked  amid  temptations  his  character 
was  stainless,  and  that  while  he  served  his  country  faithfully  he  died 
poor.  It  is  pleasing  to  reflect  that  in  the  hearts  and  abundance  of 
his  appreciative  countrymen  his  family  are  not  forgotten. 


Address  of  Mr.  Symes,  of  Colorado. 

Mr.  Speaker:  I  do  not  rise  at  this  time  to  pronounce  any  formal 
or  extended  eulogy  on  the  life,  public  services,  and  private  virtues  of 
John  A.  Logan.  The  time  allotted  for  the  delivery  of  eulogies  in 
this  Hall  by  his  colleagues  in  Congress  is  so  limited,  and  so  many 
gentlemen  have  spoken  and  so  many  still  desire  to  speak,  that  further 
elaborate  discourse  at  this  time  would  be  inappropriate. 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  extended  eulogies  in  this  place  are  unnecessary 
to  perpetuate  the  national  name  and  fame  of  J ohn  A.  Logan.  Others 
may  die  while  members  of  this  Rational  Legislature  whose  services 
to  their  constituents  and  their  country  may  better  be  preserved  and 
maintained  in  the  future  by  the  speeches  of  colleagues  and  the  rec¬ 
ords  of  these  bodies  than  otherwise.  It  is  not  so,  sir,  with  the  fame 
and  renown  and  virtues  of  the  great  man  we  mourn  to-day. 

Mr.  Speaker,  we,  his  colleagues,  can  do  but  little  toward  upholding 
or  perpetuating  the  fame  or  glory  of  him  whose  reputation  for  ex¬ 
alted  patriotism,  untarnished  honor,  unswerving  courage,  and  for 
all  the  public  and  private  virtues  have  already  become  watchwords 
with  the  great  mass  of  the  American  people. 


166 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Mr.  Speaker,  the  story  of  John  A.  Logan’s  life  will  be  told  and 
dwelt  upon,  and  told  again,  on  all  fitting  occasions  in  the  future  all 
over  this  country.  They  will  be  specially  recited  in  orations  deliv¬ 
ered  before  the  associations  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
which  he  founded  and  loved  so  much.  His  comrades  of  the  Grand 
Army,  all  of  whom  acknowledge  him  as  their  greatest  and  most 
valued  friend,  will  memorialize  his  name  and  recite  his  virtues  in 
fraternity  and  loyalty  so  long  as  a  sufficient  number  of  them  remain 
on  earth  to  pay  honor  to  those  who  have  gone  before.  The  great 
body  of  the  American  people  who  recognized  John  A.  Logan  as 
their  statesman,  champion,  and  friend  will  perpetuate  his  name  and 
virtues  in  bronze  and  marble  long  after  his  colleagues,  comrades,  and 
friends  have  followed  him  to  the  grave. 

And,  Mr.  Speaker,  when  some  future  Homer  shall  write  the  epic 
poem  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  give  a  narrative  of  the  heroic 
period  of  the  American  Republic,  John  A.  Logan  will  appear  as  one 
of  the  characters  in  that  drama. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  knew  General  Logan  perhaps  more  intimately 
than  any  of  the  members  of  this  House  outside  of  his  colleagues 
from  the  State  of  Illinois.  I  have  known  him  well  for  over  twenty 
years.  I  knew  him  in  the  Army  before  that,  when  I  served  in  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  in  the  Atlanta  campaign.  He  has  done  me 
many  favors.  He  has  several  times  visited  me  at  my  own  home.  I 
have  conversed  with  him  alone  many  summer  evenings,  in  the  cool 
air  of  Colorado,  upon  the  topics  he  had  most  at  heart  in  this  life, 
until  I  not  only  admired  and  honored  him,  for  every  American  did 
that,  but  I  learned  to  love  him.  Loving  him  as  I  did,  I  consider  it 
one  of  the  happiest  privileges  of  my  life  to  have  spent  the  last  night 
of  his  earthly  existence  by  the  bedside  of  my  great  and  dear  friend 
assisting  what  little  I  could  to  smooth  his  last  journey  over  the  dark 
river  from  the  known  to  the  unknown. 

Mr.  Speaker,  if  proving  more  than  equal  to  the  greatest  emergen¬ 
cies  that  can  arise  in  life ;  if  succeeding  to  the  command  of  a  great 
army  when  its  commander  had  fallen  on  the  field  and  it  was  in  con¬ 
fusion  and  suffering  reverses,  and  by  the  very  force  of  his  genius 
and  personal  valor  turning  defeat  into  victory;  if,  when  the  pas¬ 
sions  of  thousands  of  men  were  raging  to  and  fro  in  the  balance, 
throwing  himself  into  the  midst  of  these  turbulent  masses  and  by 
the  power  of  his  unconquerable  spirit  in  action  controlling  and  guid- 


Address  of  Mr.  Symes,  of  Colorado.  167 

ing  them  into  the  paths  of  right  and  duty  are  the  acts  that  charac¬ 
terize  greatness,  John  A.  Logan  was  a  great  man. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  seen  John  A.  Logan  under  the  most  trying 
circumstances  in  which  it  pleases  Providence  to  place  poor  mortal 
man.  I  have  seen  him  upon  the  dreadful  field  of  conflict,  where  the 
groans  of  the  wounded  and  dying,  the  thunder  of  artillery,  the  crash 
of  rifled  cannon  halls  through  the  trees  of  the  forest,  the  whiz  of 
musket  bullets,  and  the  loud  yells  of  the  apparently,  and  for  the 
time  being,  victorious  enemy  made  it  seem  a  pandemonium  indeed, 
his  piercing  black  eye  penetrating  the  field  of  carnage,  his  streaming 
black  hair  waving  in  the  very  wind  of  bursting  shells  with  a  cool¬ 
ness  and  personal  gallantry  that  made  him  seem  more  than  mortal, 
that  brought  order  out  of  chaos  and  wrested  victory  from  defeat. 

Sir,  I  have  seen  him  again  and  watched  him  grappling  with  his 
political  enemies  on  the  field  of  debate  upon  this  floor  in  1868,  when 
the  old  charges  were  made  and  reiterated  that  he  had  sympathized 
with  armed  movements  against  his  country  in  her  time  of  need, 
and  he  threw  these  charges  back  into  the  teeth  of  those  who  made 
them  with  such  patriotic  indignation  and  eloquent  invective  that  he 
silenced  his  opponents  and  came  out  of  the  debate  triumphant. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  have  seen  him  again  in  the  social  intimacy  of  his 
own  and  my  own  home,  where  neither  war  nor  debate  excited  his 
manly  serenity,  telling  anecdotes  for  the  amusement  of  all  around 
the  domestic  circle ;  and  a  nobler,  kinder  hearted,  more  patriotic, 
courageous,  or  honorable  man  than  John  A.  Logan  never  lived. 
He  was  one  of  the  greatest  statesmen  and  the  greatest  citizen  soldier 
of  America. 

Mr.  Speaker,  many  have  denied  that  John  A.  Logan  was  a  great 
man.  Some  because  in  the  heat  of  debate  he  sometimes  articulated 
language  which  was  not  perfect,  when  tested  by  the  strict  rules  of 
verbal  criticism.  Others  said  he  was  not  great  because  he  was  not 
learned  and  accomplished  in  belles-lettres,  and  others  because  he  was 
unlearned  in  the  arts  and  sciences. 

Mr.  Speaker,  great  acquirements,  learning,  and  accomplishments 
in  such  things  never  made  a  great  man.  If,  while  General  Logan 
was  battling  to  overcome  the  hardships  of  pioneer  life  his  time  had 
been  spent  poring  over  books  in  Eastern  colleges  ;  if,  when  the  war 
with  Mexico  broke,  out  and  he  was  twenty  years  of  age  his  own  taste 
or  ambition  or  that  of  his  parents  had  sent  him  to  seats  of  learning 
in  Germany,  to  be  filled  with  all  the  knowledge  that  books  and  pro- 


168 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


fessors  could  impart,  instead  of  going  to  the  battlefields  of  his 
country  ;  if,  during  the  years  intervening  between  the  Mexican  war 
and  1858,  when  he  was  elected  a  member  of  this  House  from  South¬ 
ern  Illinois,  his  time  had  been  divided  between  reading  polite  litera¬ 
ture,  traveling  in  Europe,  visiting  art  galleries,  and  mixing  in  the 
highest  society,  and  the  remainder  of  it  only  devoted  to  the  profes¬ 
sion  of  the  law  in  some  large  city,  it  is  certain  he  never  would  have 
rendered  the  great  services  to  his  country  in  her  time  of  need  which 
his  countrymen  now  universally  acknowledge  ;  and  he  never  would 
have  died  universally  mourned  as  the  champion  and  friend  of  the 
American  people.  He  never  would  have  passed  down  to  history  as 
one  of  the  great  statesmen  and  the  greatest  American  citizen-soldier 
of  his  time.  As  that  brilliant  orator  and  statesman  from  Virginia, 
John  Randolph,  of  Roanoke,  once  said  in  this  House  : 

The  talent  for  government  lies  in  two  things,  sagacity  to  perceive  and  the  decis¬ 
ion  to  act.  Genuine  statesmen  were  never  made  by  such  training.  *  *  *  Let 
a  house  be  on  fire  and  you  will  soon  see  in  that  confusion  who  has  the  talent  to 
command.  *  *  *  Who  believes  that  Washington  could  write  as  good  a  book  or 
report  as  Jefferson,  or  make  as  able  a  speech  as  Hamilton?  Who  is  there  that  be¬ 
lieves  that  Cromwell  would  have  made  as  good  a  judge  as  Lord  Hale  ?  No,  Mr. 
Speaker,  these  learned  and  accomplished  men  find  their  proper  place  under  those 
wrlio  are  fitted  to  command  and  to  command  them  among  the  rest.  *  *  *  Great 
logicians  and  great  scholars  are  for  that  very  reason  unfit  to  be  rulers.  Would  Han¬ 
nibal  have  crossed  the  Alps  where  there  were  no  roads,  with  elephants,  in  the  face 
of  the  warlike  hardy  mountaineers,  and  have  carried  terror  to  the  very  gates  of 
Rome  if  his  youth  had  been  spent  in  poring  overbooks?  ‘ 4  Are  you  not  ashamed,” 
said  a  philosopher  to  one  who  was  born  to  rule,  “Are  you  not  ashamed  to  play  so 
well  upon  the  flute  ?”  There  is  much  which  becomes  a  secondary  man  to  know, 
much  that  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  know,  that  a  first-rate  man  ought  to  be 
ashamed  to  know.  No  head  was  ever  clear  and  sound  that  was  stuffed  with  book¬ 
learning.  *  *  *  After  all,  the  chief  must  draw  upon  his  subalterns  for  much 
that  he  does  not  know  and  can  not  perform  himself. 

Mr.  Speaker,  the  eloquent  statesman  and  orator  of  Virginia  has 
here  shown  in  a  strong  light  the  reasons  why  John  A.  Logan  was  a 
great  man,  notwithstanding  he  was  not  a  learned  and  accomplished 
man  in  the  common  acceptation  of  the  term. 

In  his  domestic  relations  General  Logan  was  one  of  the  happiest 
and  most  fortunate  of  men.  In  the  early  days  of  his  manhood,  I 
may  truly  say  in  the  beautiful  language  of  another  : 

He  found  in  the  wilderness  of  this  world  one  without  whose  participation  his  bliss 
would  have  been  joyless,  but  in  whose  sympathy  even  his  sorrows  could  find  a 
charm  ;  whose  smile  has  cheered  his  toil  ;  whose  love  has  pillowed  up  all  his  mis¬ 
fortunes  ;  and  whose  angel  spirit  has  guided  him  through  darkness  and  danger  and 
despair  amid  the  world’s  frowns  and  the  friend’s  perfidy  and  been  more  than 
friend  and  world  and  all  to  him. 


Address  of  Mr.  Symes,  of  Colorado.  169 

The  influence  of  this  beautiful  domestic  relation  over  him  was 
great.  That  influence  modified  his  stern  and  ardent  nature  in  many 
of  the  other  relations  of  life.  I  attribute  to  this  influence  somewhat 
the  reason  that  during  his  bitterest,  and  what  may  have  been  said 
his  most  ambitious,  contests  in  life,  he  never  lost  sight  of  the  do¬ 
mestic,  social,  and  other  interests  of  the  American  people  at  the  mo¬ 
ment  of  his  greatest  triumphs.  For  home,  after  all,  is  where  those 
delicate  feelings  are  to  be  cherished  which  gives  to  society  its  most 
.  attractive  charms ;  and  here  must  those  affections  take  root  which 
spread  their  tendrils  abroad  and  embrace  the  whole  family  of  man. 

W e  are  told  of  Agamemnon,  who  sacrificed  his  daughter  to  war¬ 
like  ambition;  of  Yirginius,  who  with  his  own  hands  could  slay  a 
daughter  to  produce  a  political  revolution ;  of  Cato,  who  divorced 
or  took  back  his  wife  as  public  affairs  seemed  to  require;  but  the  age 
in  which  these  men  were  considered  great  was  not  characterized  by 
the  purity  of  conjugal  relations  and  those  domestic  ties  of  social  in¬ 
tercourse  which  lie  at  the  very  foundation  of  our  government  by 
the  people.  In  these  ancient  heroes  there  may  be  much  to  admire, 
but  little  that  we  can  love.  For,  as  has  been  said: 

What  more  dreary  than  the  prospects  of  a  man  who  knows  not  the  endearments 
of  domestic  life.  He  may  have  all  the  sterner  virtues.  He  may  have  power.  He 
may  be  tricked  out  with  all  the  magnificence  of  wealth,  elevated  by  the  dignity  of 
office,  or  respected  for  genius  and  learning  ;  but  what  is  all  this  worth  ?  What  is 
his  greatness  ?  It  is  like  the  chilling  grandeur  of  his  own  marble  monument. 
Travelers  look  with  awe  and  pass  it  by  in  silence,  for  it  contains  no  records  of  those 
acts  of  private  kindness  and  domestic  virtues  upon  which  men  love  to  dwell. 

Mr.  Speaker,  if  John  A.  Logan’s  life  had  been  without  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  these  domestic  charms  he  would  not  be  so  universally  re¬ 
gretted  by  all  the  American  people  ;  and  American  history  will  point 
to  this  portion  of  his  life  as  one  of  the  bright  examples  to  be  followed 
by  those  Americans  who  wish  to  be  universally  admired  and 
mourned  by  the  people  of  their  country. 

Mr.  Speaker,  John  A.  Logan  was  a  great  orator.  His  speech  was 
very  eloquent.  This  distinction  has  often  been  denied  to  him.  It 
has  been  said  that  his  rhythm  was  not  finished  and  harmonious;  that 
his  rhetoric  would  not  stand  the  test  of  literary  criticism;  that  some 
of  his  strong  and  rugged  apostrophes  and  illustrations  did  not  suit 
the  taste  of  the  accomplished  schools  of  oratory  or  eloquence.  In  a 
certain  sense  this  may  be  true.  But,  Mr.  Speaker,  the  true  object  of 
eloquence  is  to  persuade,  and  of  oratory  to  produce  conviction. 
When  we  test  the  speeches  of  John  A.  Logan,  delivered  on  public 


170 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


and  important  occasions,  by  their  results,  we  can  not  deny  to  him  the 
distinction  of  being  a  great  orator  and  an  eloquent  man. 

Mr.  Speaker,  as  has  been  said  by  W ebster : 

True  eloquence  indeed  does  not  consist  in  speech.  It  can  not  be  brought  from 
far.  Labor  and  learning  may  toil  for  it,  but  they  will  toil  for  it  in  vain.  It  must 
exist  in  the  man,  in  the  subject,  and  in  the  occasion.  *  *  *  The  graces  taught 
in  the  schools,  the  costly  ornaments  and  studied  contrivances  of  speech  shock 
and  disgust  men  when  their  own  lives  and  the  fate  of  their  wives,  their  children, 
and  their  country  hang  on  the  decision  of  the  hour.  Then  words  have  lost 
their  power,  rhetoric  is  vain,  and  all  elaborate  oratory  contemptible.  *  *  * 

Then  patriotism  is  eloquent;  then  self-devotion  is  eloquent.  The  clear  conception 
outrunning  the  deductions  of  logic,  the  high  purpose,  the  firm  resolve,  the  daunt¬ 
less  spirit  speaking  on  the  tongue,  beaming  from  the  eye,  informing  every  feature 
and  urging  the  whole  man  onward,  right  onward,  to  his  object.  This  is  eloquence  ; 
or  rather,  it  is  something  greater  and  higher  than  all  eloquence ;  it  is  action,  noble, 
sublime,  God-like  action. 

Mr.  Speaker,  are  not  these  words  of  one  of  the  great  masters,  whose 
eloquence  and  oratory  adorned  and  influenced  both  Houses  of  Con¬ 
gress  for  so  many  years,  specially  applicable  to  the  oratory  of  John 
A.  Logan  ?  Have  we  a  man  in  this  generation  who,  at  critical  periods 
in  our  country’s  history,  at  times,  sir,  when  the  fate  of  our  country 
was  at  stake  and  “  the  die  seemed  to  spin  somewhat  doubtful,”  threw 
himself  into  the  breach  with  a  more  dauntless  spirit,  with  a  more 
firm  resolve  speaking  on  his  tongue  or  beaming  from  his  eye  and 
urging  him  on  with  a  more  sublime  and  God-like  action  than  John 
A.  Logan  ?  It  is  matter  of  history  that  at  such  times  he  changed 
the  opinions  and  convictions  of  thousands  of  men  by  the  power  of 
his  oratory. 

Mr.  Speaker,  ask  that  greatest  chieftain  and  man  of  his  time,  U.  S. 
Grant,  whether  Logan  was  an  orator,  and  he  would  tell  you  that  in 
1861,  when  he,  Grant,  was  organizing  the  new  recruits  of  Illinois 
into  regiments  at  the  State  rendezvous,  and  on  account  of  a  misun¬ 
derstanding  with  them  about  the  term  of  enlistment  a  large  number 
of  them  were  threatening  to  go  back  home  when  asked  to  swear  in 
for  three  years,  and  were  in  a  state  of  mutiny,  he  applied  to  Logan 
for  advice  as  to  how  to  control  them.  Logan  said,  speak  to  them, 
reason  with  them,  and  appeal  to  them.  The  great  silent  commander 
replied:  “I  can  not  speak  to  them,  I  never  made  a  speech  in  my 
life;  won’t  you  speak  to  them?”  “ Certainly,”  said  Logan.  The 
recruits  were  collected  together  on  the  parade  ground,  and  Logan 
appealed  to  their  patriotism,  their  courage,  their  pride,  and  man¬ 
hood  and  duty  to  their  country  in  such  an  eloquent  and  impetuous 


Address  of  Mr.  Symes,  of  Colorado. 


171 


manner  that  the  cheer  soon  rang  out,  and  the  cry  of  “Union  and 
freedom”  floated  upon  the  evening  air,  and  those,  a  short  time  before, 
mutinous  recruits  all  enlisted  for  three  years  or  during  the  war,  and 
this  was  the  result  of  the  oratory  of  John  A.  Logan. 

Mr.  Speaker,  many  said  Logan  was  ambitious ;  that  he  sought  the 
highest  prize  in  the  gift  of  the  American  people.  And  why  should 
he  not  ?  Had  not  he  who  had  dono  so  much  to  preserve  the  Union 
of  this  Republic  and  its  free  institutions,  who  had  spilled  his  blood 
upon  her  battlefields  and  spent  over  two-thirds  of  his  manhood  days 
in  her  service,  a  right  to  aspire  to  the  Chief  Magistracy?  Yes,  Mr. 
Speaker,  Logan  was  ambitious.  But  who  will  say  that  his  ambition 
ever  caused  him  to  swerve  one  iota  from  his  convictions  of  duty  and 
his  principles  under  any  circumstances  whatever. 

The  contemporaries  of  the  great  triumvirate  of  eloquence  and  states¬ 
manship,  Webster,  Clay,  and  Calhoun,  often  charged  each  of  them 
with  deviating  from  some  of  their  former  convictions  to  avoid  oppo¬ 
sition  from  the  people  in  their  ambition  for  the  coveted  prize. 

Mr.  Speaker,  here  is  where  John  A.  Logan’s  character  and  con¬ 
victions  stand  forth  in  bold  relief  in  the  political  history  of  this  coun¬ 
try.  For,  whatever  may  have  been  charged  against  other  aspirants 
for  the  Presidency,  whether  occupying  seats  in  the  Congress,  or  if 
out  of  Congress  writing  speeches  and  letters  on  every  promising 
occasion,  no  one  would  presume  to  intimate  that  Logan  ever  evaded 
any  public  question,  ever  avoided  even  expressing  his  convictions 
boldly  in  debate  upon  any  pending  measure,  or  that  he  ever  tried  to 
ride  upon  the  crest  of  the  popular  wave  or  trimmed  his  sails  to  a 
temporary  or  other  breeze  to  aid  in  sailing  into  the  Chief  Magistrate’s 
harbor. 

Mr.  Speaker,  he  has  passed  away,  and  we  poor  mortals  can  do 
nothing  more  than  mourn  his  loss  and  revere  and  keep  the  memory 
of  his  many  virtues  for  our  own  bright  example.  No  American  has 
died  in  this  generation  who  will  be  so  universally  missed  by  all  classes 
and  conditions  of  men  as  John  A.  Logan.  The  Grand  Army  of  the 
Republic  soldiers  will  miss  him  when  endeavoring  to  obtain  their 
rights.  The  statesmen  will  miss  his  cool  and  unfaltering  intrepidity 
in  the  support  of  measures  for  the  good  of  our  country.  The  great 
mass  of  the  people  will  miss  and  mourn  him  when  their  rights  require 
courageous  defense. 


172 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan . 


Address  of  Mr.  Lawler,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  The  eloquent  tributes  to  the  memory  of  General 
Logan  recently  pronounced  in  the  other  branch  of  Congress,  as  well 
as  similar  eulogies  delivered  to-day  by  my  respected  colleagues  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  admonish  me  that  no  words  of  mine  can 
add  to  the  measure  of  profound  grief  expressed  for  the  loss  of  so  true, 
tried,  and  honored  citizen  of  the  American  Republic.  But,  sir,  I 
would  be  derelict  to  the  constituency  which  I  have  the  honor  to  rep¬ 
resent,  recusant  to  the  impulses  of  my  own  heart,  and  unmindful  of 
the  many  acts  of  disinterested  kindness  received  from  the  late  distin¬ 
guished  Senator  from  Illinois  did  I  fail  to  testify  my  brief  but  hum¬ 
ble  appreciation  of  his  worth,  not  only  as  a  statesman  and  wise  con- 
selor,  but  as  a  man  among  men. 

I  have  not  awaited  the  hour  of  death  to  praise  John  A.  Logan,  for 
it  was  my  fortune  to  know  him,  perhaps  not  intimately  in  the  social 
sense,  but  measurably  as  we  were  brought  into  contact  and  collision 
in  the  various  political  conflicts  in  Illinois.  He  was  a  f  oeman  worthy 
of  the  foeman’s  steel,  but  withal  generous  and  considerate  in  the  hour 
of  victory,  submitting  to  defeat  without  murmur  or  complaint.  My 
respect  for  John  A.  Logan  augmented  into  admiration  when  the 
grand  spectacle  was  presented  of  his  graceful  acquiescence  in  the  will 
of  the  majority  expressed  adversely  to  his  election  to  the  Vice-Presi¬ 
dency  in  November,  1884. 

What  most  commanded  my  respect  for  General  Logan,  and  doubt¬ 
less  the  respect  of  others,  was  his  entire  freedom  from  pride  of  place, 
and  the  uniform  kindness  with  which  the  humblest  and  plainest  citi¬ 
zen  was  received  by  him,  and  not  only  by  him  but  by  his  good  wife, 
his  helpmeet  and  staff,  and  by  every  member  of  the  Logan  house¬ 
hold. 

His  methods  were  the  very  essence  of  plainness  and  unostentation, 
and  though  we  all  know  from  personal  experience  that  public  men  are 
importuned  frequently  beyond  the  pale  of  endurance,  yet  rarely,  if 
ever,  did  General  Logan,  impetuous  as  was  his  nature,  permit  him¬ 
self  to  manifest  impatience  or  annoyance  when  thus  besieged.  There 
were  none  so  poor,  so  lowly,  or  so  obscure  but  who  could  find  their 
way  freely  to  his  presence. 


Address  of  Mr.  Lawler,  of  Illinois.  173 

Ingratitude,  that  superabundant  vice  of  political  life,  from  the 
stings  of  which  but  few,  if  any,  public  men  are  free,  gave  General 
Logan  the  greatest  pain.  Himself  a  grateful  man,  never  forgetting 
a  kindness  and  holding  himself  always  on  the  alert  to  repay  a  hun¬ 
dred  fold,  he  was  keenly  sensitive  to  ingratitude  from  persons  he  had 
befriended,  and  he  befriended  many.  Those  who  are  familiar  with 
political  events  in  the  State  of  Illinois  and  elsewhere  will  doubtless 
recall  many  pronounced  instances  wherein  General  Logan  was  made 
to  suffer  grievously  at  the  hands  of  pretended  friends,  who  should 
have  been  the  very  last  on  earth  to  turn  against  him.  Even  when 
this  wrong  was  laid  upon  his  very  threshold,  he  magnanimously  held 
his  peace. 

In  General  Logan’s  composition,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  the  qualities 
of  physical  and  moral  courage  were  happily  blended.  His  integrity 
of  purpose  could  not  be  successfully  questioned,  and  I  have  noticed 
that  he  vastly  preferred  to  perform  acts  of  kindness  even  to  enemies 
than  to  punish  them.  His  sense  of  justice  was  acute  to  a  degree,  and 
the  realization  that  he  had  been  unwittingly  unjust  wounded  him 
greatly.  It  frequently  requires  great  courage  to  remedy  an  injustice, 
but  General  Logan  never  shrank  from  nor  avoided  what  he  con¬ 
ceived  to  be  his  duty  in  this  regard. 

I  have  often  instituted  a  comparison  in  my  own  mind  of  similar 
traits  of  character  possessed  by  General  Logan  to  some  of  those  of 
Samuel  Adams,  of  Revolutionary  fame.  I  can  well  imagine  that  had 
Logan  been  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  when  that  body 
declared  the  colonies  free  and  independent  of  England’s  domination, 
he  would  have  boldly  proclaimed  with  Samuel  Adams: 

I  should  advise  persisting  in  our  struggle  for  liberty,  though  it  were  revealed 
from  Heaven  that  nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  were  to  perish  and  only  one  of  a 
thousand  were  to  survive  and  retain  his  liberty!  On©  such  freeman  must  possess 
more  virtue  and  enjoy  more  happiness  than  a  thousand  slaves  ;  and  let  him  propa¬ 
gate  his  like ,  and  transmit  to  them  what  he  hath  so  nobly  preserved. 

Like  Samuel  Adams,  John  A.  Logan  combined  in  a  remarkable 
degree  those  qualities  of  firmness  and  aggressiveness  that  qualify  a 
man  to  be  the  asserter  of  the  rights  of  the  people.  Like  Samuel 
Adams,  he  was  superior  to  pecuniary  considerations,  and  proved  his 
cause  by  the  virtue  of  his  conduct.  Like  Samuel  Adams,  the  service 
he  rendered  his  country  in  the  national  councils  was  not  by  brilliancy 
of  talent  nor  prof  oundnesss  of  learning,  but  through  resolute  decision, 
unceasing  watchfulness,  and  heroic  perseverance. 


174  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

General  Logan’s  military  achievements  are  written  in  living  light 
upon  the  pages  of  history.  I  was  not  a  soldier,  for  it  must  be  remem¬ 
bered  the  various  pursuits  and  necessities  of  life  do  not  permit  all  to 
follow  to  the  tented  field;  but  when  a  mere  youth,  serving  appren¬ 
ticeship  at  the  trade  of  ship-carpenter  and  working  at  repairs  upon 
the  Federal  gunboats  at  Cairo  and  Mound  City,  my  eyes  were  eagerly 
strained  toward  the  Federal  lines  where  Grant,  Logan,  Mulligan, 
Morrison,  Henderson,  Rowell,  Black,  Thomas,  Plumb,  Carr,  and 
other  loyal  sons  of  Illinois,  heading  their  columns  of  brave  men,  were 
upholding  the  cause  of  the  Union  at  the  peril  of  their  lives. 

From  my  own  personal  knowledge  I  am  enabled  to  state  that 
General  Logan  deeply  sympathized  with  the  efforts  made,  not  only 
at  the  present  period,  but  in  days  gone  by,  to  free  Ireland  from  the 
yoke  of  oppression,  to  secure  equal  application  of  British  laws  and 
afford  that  land  a  benign  and  friendly  government,  rather  than  afflict 
her  with  the  curse  of  landlordism  and  visit  endless  outrages  upon  the 
Irish  people  without  even  the  pretense  of  remedy  or  the  confession 
of  injustice.  It  was  but  natural  that  the  Irish  blood  coursing  in  his 
veins  should  find  outlet  in  sympathy  for  his  kindred  ;  but  apart  from 
this,  had  he  derived  the  source  of  life  from  any  other  nationality,  his 
generous  heart  would  have  gone  out  to  the  weak  and  oppressed,  vainly 
appealing  to  tyrants  for  home  rule,  and  surcease  from  persecution 
from  absentees  who,  owning  the  fruitful  lands  of  the  Irish  isle,  lived 
riot  elsewhere  upon  the  sweat  and  toil  of  its  wretched  and  dependent 
farm-peasantry. 

John  A.  Logan  was  not  the  man  to  learn  without  emotion  and 
indignation  of  women  and  children  starving  at  the  wayside  of  Irish 
roads,  evicted  from  their  humble  homes,  their  cow  and  pig,  their  beds 
and  bedding,  seized  by  the  constabulary  on  warrants  of  distress  for 
rent  they  could  not  pay  because  of  failure  of  the  crops.  He  drew 
broadly  the  line  of  demarkation  between  free  America,  where  the 
honest  settler  is  provided,  through  humane  laws,  with  a  homestead  on 
the  public  domain,  and  the  endless  horrors  of  tenant  life  in  Ireland, 
to  which  the  English  Government  persistently  closes  its  eyes  and 
denies  every  reasonable  proposition  of  amelioration. 

General  Logan  entertained  the  profoundest  admiration  for  the 
patriot  Robert  Emmett,  and  I  have  heard  him  say  that  it  was  a  mar¬ 
vel  how  a  youth  of  but  eighteen  years  could  have  so  stirred  Ireland 
to  the  very  core  by  the  enthusiasm  of  his  eloquence;  Emmett,  who  at 


Address  of  Mr.  Lawler,  of  Illinois. 


175 


the  early  age  of  twenty-three,  a  martyr  to  the  cause  of  Irish  inde¬ 
pendence,  met  no  mercy  at  the  hands  of  the  English  Government 
and  perished  on  the  scaffold,  convicted  of  high  treason,  notwith¬ 
standing  the  nobility  of  his  demeanor  at  the  mockery-trial,  and 
which  evoked  the  pitying  admiration  of  even  those  who  clamored  for 
his  execution  for  the  alleged  benefit  of  example. 

Does  any  one  in  this  age  suppose  that  the  blood  of  Robert  Emmett 
or  the  suicide  of  Theobald  Wolf  Tone  to  escape  the  scaffold  have 
yielded  no  harvest?  England  may  have  ignored  the  eloquence  of 
Richard  Lalor  Shiel,  of  Waterford,  vindicating  in  the  House  of 
Commons  the  Irish  people  from  the  aspersions  of  Lord  Lyndhurst,  and 
turned  a  deaf  ear  to  his  impassioned  plea  for  simple  justice  to  his 
countrymen,  whose  sacrifices,  unmeasured  and  untold,  had  contrib¬ 
uted  the  major  portion  of  England’s  supremacy  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth,  only  to  find  themselves  thereafter  the  objects  of  persistent 
ostracism  and  deliberate  persecution.  The  closing  words  of  Shiel’s 
peroration — 

The  blood  of  England,  Scotland,  and  of  Ireland  flowed  in  the  same  stream  and 
drenched  the  same  field.  When  the  chill  morning  dawned  their  dead  lay  cold  and 
stark  together  ;  in  the  same  deep  pit  their  bodies  were  deposited  ;  the  green  corn  of 
spring  is  now  breaking  from  their  commingled  dust ;  the  dew  falls  from  Heaven 
upon  their  union  in  the  grave.  Partaking  in  every  peril,  in  the  glory  shall  we  not 
be  permitted  to  participate !  And  shall  we  be  told,  as  a  requital,  that  we  are 
estranged  from  the  country  for  whose  salvation  our  life-blood  was  poured  out ! — 

have  found  echo  in  many  an  American  breast,  and  none  more 
responsive  than  in  the  big  heart  of  John  Alexander  Logan. 

During  the  period  of  Ireland’s  later  trials  and  tribulations,  when 
it  was  deemed  fitting  for  Americans,  Irish- Americans,  and  all  others 
who  sympathized  with  the  efforts  of  Irish  patriots  to  secure  home 
rule  and  the  enactment  of  humane  laws  for  that  land  of  long-suffer¬ 
ing,  to  meet  in  various  localities  of  our  happy  Republic  and  send 
words  of  encouragement  and  cheer  across  the  sea  to  those  engaged 
in  this  good  work,  and  to  advise  them  that,  as  the  hearts  of  all  true 
Irishmen  warmed  to  the  people  of  the  American  colonies  in  response 
to  their  memorials  of  grievance  addressed  to  the  Lord  Mayor  and 
Burgesses  of  the  city  of  Dublin,  so  the  heart  of  free  and  independent 
America  went  out  in  return  to  them,  struggling  to  obtain  like  con¬ 
stitutional  rights  from  the  hands  of  the  same  unnatural  mother,  it 
was  no  less  a  duty  than  a  pleasure  to  John  Alexander  Logan,  a 
Senator  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and  the  son  of  an  Irish 


176 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


patriot  of  the  Revolution  of  1798,  to  preside  over  the  deliberations 
of  several  such  assemblies  held  in  the  city  of  Chicago — his  home. 
And  there  were  none  present  more  fervid  in  eloquence  nor  wiser  in 
council  than  John  Alexander  Logan  ! 

When  Logan  died  Ireland  lost  a  firm  friend  and  warm  sympa¬ 
thizer.  A  great  American  has  fallen  in  the  very  plenitude  of  his 
usefulness,  and  the  Republic  mourns  the  loss  as  deeply  as  it  has 
mourned  the  loss  of  other  patriots  gone  before.  The  earth  that  enter¬ 
tained  him  at  his  birth,  fed  and  all  along  his  life  sustained  him  in 
the  performance  of  his  duty,  now  that  he  has  been  abdicated  by  the 
rest  of  nature,  like  a  gentle  mother  embraces  John  Alexander 
Logan  within  her  lap,  and  protects  his  mortal  remains  until  the 
hope  of  resurrection  shall  be  realized  and  the  divine  promise  of  a  life 
beyond  the  grave  fully  redeemed.  “The  body  returns,”  saith  the 
Scripture,  “to  the  earth  from  whence  it  came,  and  the  soul  to  the 
God  that  gave  it.” 

His  death  was  tranquil,  surrounded  by  family  and  friends,  and  lov¬ 
ing  hands  bore  his  body  to  the  tomb.  For  this  great  boon  we  should 
be  thankful.  His  widow  and  children  know  that  the  nation  shares 
their  deep  grief,  and  to  that  extent  only  we  can  give  them  earthly 
consolation.  Our  friend  died  as  he  had  lived,  honored  and  respected, 
not  alone  by  the  people  within  the  broad  boundaries  of  the  American 
Republic,  but  by  man  and  woman  in  all  lands  where  liberty  is  prized 
or  the  hope  of  liberty  cherished ! 


Address  of  Mr.  Perkins,  of  Kansas. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  “  Dust  to  dust  and  ashes  to  ashes  ”  is  decreed  to 
all.  Yet  notwithstanding  this  common  mortality,  it  has,  since  the 
morning  stars  first  sang  together,  been  the  habit  of  our  race  to  pay 
tribute  to  the  honorable  and  chivalric  dead,  and  with  profound  re¬ 
spect  and  sincere  sorrow  do  we  pause  in  the  busy  activities  of  life, 
suspend  the  business  of  this  Chamber,  and  in  saddened  cadences 
laurel  with  rhetorical  offerings  the  grave  of  one  the  world  respected, 
the  nation  honored,  the  people  loved,  and  patriots  mourn — General 
John  A.  Logan. 

It  was  in  this  Chamber  that  John  Alexander  Logan  first  be¬ 
came  known  to  the  people  of  this  'country,  and  it  was  from  this 
Chamber  that  he  went  as  a  volunteer  to  fight  in  the  first  battle  of 


Address  of  Mr.  Perkins,  of  Kansas. 


177 


Bull  Run,  as  it  was  from  this  Chamber  that  he  went  to  the  capital 
of  his  native  State  and  tendered  his  services  to  its  governor  that  he 
might  he  enrolled  as  a  defender  of  his  country  against  the  war  of 
treason  and  rebellion  just  precipitated  upon  it  by  his  late  political 
associates.  It  required  indomitable  courage,  sincere  patriotism,  and 

A 

intense  unselfish  love  of  country  to  prompt  to  all  this.  But  these 
were  the  distinguishing  characteristics  of  this  son  of  Illinois,  and 
how  we  from  the  prairies  of  the  Great  West  recall  the  sensations  of 
that  day. 

How  our  hope  w^s  enkindled,  our  patriotism  encouraged,  our 
enthusiasm  strengthened,  our  spirits  revived,  and  our  cheeks  made 
to  glow  with  new  faith  and  animation  as  we  learned  that  John  A. 
Logan  was  strong  enough  to  strike  down  the  prejudices  that  sur¬ 
rounded  him,  the  traditions  that  hampered  hinmthe  political  affilia¬ 
tions  that  had  dominated  him,  and  with  a  mailednand  and  matchless 
eloquence  declare  for  his  country,  her  institutions,  and  her  people. 

That  period  of  strife  is  only  recalled  that  we  may  speak  of  the 
grand  achievements,  of  this  illustrious  man. 

From  his  first  enlistment  until  the  last  gun  was  fired  he  was  the 
incarnation  of  war.  War  to  him  was  a  terrible,  a  cruel  reality,  but 
that  lives  might  be  spared,  peace  secured,  and  tranquillity  restored, 
he  would  make  war  with  the  heaviest  guns,  the  strongest  battalions, 
the  best  equipped  divisions,  and  prosecute  it  with  all  the  energy  and 
earnestness  that  could  be  given  to  human  organizations.  Time  will 
not  permit  me  to  speak  of  his  military  record  and  achievements  as  I 
would  like,  and  yet  it  is  a  story  known  to  all. 

But  when  the  belching  of  cannon  ceased,  when  victory  crowned 
our  arms,  and  peace  was  restored  to  our  bleeding  country,  it  saw 
General  John  A.  Logan  crowned  by  the  plaudits  of  the  people  the 
greatest  volunteer  soldier  of  the  Republic.  He  did  not  get  at  all 
times  that  recognition  from  his  superiors  in  authority  that  he  thought 
his  distinguished  services  deserved  ;  but  he  never  sheathed  his  sword 
in  discontent,  he  never  refused  in  a  spirit  of  insubordination  to  exe¬ 
cute  the  orders  of  his  superiors,  and  he  never  in  the  face  of  the  enemy 
refused  to  give  battle,  or  to  contribute  by  his  heroic  presence  and 
splendid  bearing  to  the  cause  of  his  imperiled  country  and  the  suc¬ 
cess  of  the  Union  arms. 

In  every  council  his  voice  was  for  battle,  and  in  every  battle  his 
strong  arm,  brave  deeds,  and  impetuous  words  were  for  victory. 


12  L 


178 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Many  there  are  in  this  House  who  will  recall  that  day  in  front  of 
Atlanta  when  the  impetuous  Hood  hurled  his  gallant  forces  against 
the  Union  lines.  No  more  memorable  contest  occurred  during  the 
war.  McPherson  had  fallen  and  Logan  was  in  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and  against  his  command  came  the  almost 
irresistible  legions  of  Hood,  determined  to  break  the  Union  lines  and 
to  crown  their  efforts  with  a  victory  that  would  carry  consternation 
to  the  Union  forces  and  give  hope  and  relief  to  the  beleaguered  city 
of  Atlanta. 

Never  did  men  fight  with  more  gallantry,  and  never  were  men  re¬ 
pulsed  with  more  daring  and  heroism  than  was  witnessed  that  day 
on  that  now  historic  field  in  the  State  of  Georgia. 

On  both  sides  of  their  rifle-pits  our  boys  struggled  for  the  victory, 
and  hatless,  fearless,  impetuous,  and  invincible,  their  beloved  com¬ 
mander  shared  with  them  the  danger,  and  by  his  magnetic  presence 
and  intrepid  daring  was  to  them  “  an  inspiration,  a  prophecy,  and  a 
success.” 

But  it  has  been  said  that  Logan  was  a  political  soldier.  Is  that  to 
his  detriment  ?  Is  it  not  rather  to  his  credit  ?  Shall  it  ever  be  the 
settled  policy  of  this  Republic  that  no  man  shall  be  honored  with 
military  rank  at  a  time  of  war  and  of  great  national  peril,  except 
those  who  have  been  trained  to  the  profession  of  arms  and  educated 
at  the  military  schools  of  the  country  ? 

As  was  so  well  said  in  the  Senate  Chamber  last  week  by  the  dis¬ 
tinguished  Senator  from  Connecticut : 

He  was  classed  as  a  political  general.  I  do  not  know  that  it  was  altogether  an 
unfriendly  remark.  He  was,  sir  ;  he  had  the  honor  to  be  a  political  general.  It 
was  a  political  war,  and  he  was  as  strong  in  one  field  of  battle  as  the  other.  The 
political  generals  did  double  duty.  The  anxiety  during  some  of  the  great  days  of 
those  four  years  was  not  that  the  soldiers  of  the  Union  would  be  unable  to  put  down 
the  rebellion  in  due  time,  but  that  the  voters  at  the  ballot-box  might  put  down  the 
war  too  early ;  and  some  of  the  political  combats  won  by  Logan  and  others  at  home 
were  as  useful  to  the  cause  of  the  Union  as  the  triumphs  of  Vicksburg  and  Gettys¬ 
burg.  Baker,  matchless  as  an  orator,  chivalrous  and  lovely  in  battle,  was  a  politi¬ 
cal  general.  Garfield,  giving  promise  of  great  genera' ship  by  an  unconquerable 
industry  and  energy,  and  a  brilliant  courage  in  the  face  of  the  enemy’s  guns — Gar¬ 
field,  obeying  what  was  almost  a  command,  went  from  the  Army  to  Congress. 
Frank  Blair,  with  the  trumpet  tones  of  his  voice  and  the  quiver  of  his  uplifted 
finger,  was  worth  a  corps  of  soldiers  in  his  influence  over  Missouri,  and  he  was  a 
political  general. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  when  the  armies  of  the  Republic  were  dis¬ 
banded  and  martial  strife  had  ceased,  General  Logan  returned  to  his 
home.  But  there  was  no  repose  for  him.  By  divine  right  he  was  a 


Address  of  Mr.  Perkins ,  of  Kansas.  1 79 

leader  of  men.  At  tlie  forum,  in  the  council  chamber,  and  upon  the 
hustings  it  was  his  imperial  right  to  lead  as  well  as  upon  the  field  of 
conflict  and  carnage,  and  after  a  short  respite  from  public  duties  he 
was  returned  to  this  Chamber  as  the  representative  at  large  from  the 
State  of  Illinois,  and  from  that  time  on  until  the  day  of  his  death  he 
was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  figures  in  our  political  history. 

At  all  times  aggressive  and  impulsive,  he  had  the  courage  of  his 
convictions.  It  cannot  be  said  that  his  character  was  without  fault 
or  criticism,  but  let  it  be  recorded  to  his  eternal  honor  that  under  all 
circumstances  and  to  all  classes  he  was  an  honest  man.  Sincere  in 
his  convictions,  he  despised  shams  and  false  pretense,  and  the  glamour 
of  hypocritical  professions  never  deceived  or  captivated  him. 

Persistent  in  purpose  and  tireless  in  endeavor,  by  his  indomitable 
will  he  overcame  obstacles,  converted  embarrassments  into  oppor¬ 
tunities,  and  made  barriers  but  stepping-stones  to  greater  things. 

He  was  the  first  commander  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
and  was  the  first  to  suggest  the  beautiful  custom  of  strewing  with 
the  fragrant  flowers  of  spring  the  graves  of  our  heroic  dead.  Every 
man  who  wore  the  blue  was  his  comrade.  For  them  his  labors  were 
incessant,  and  the  statute-books  of  this  nation  attest  his  constant 
devotion  to  their  best  interests,  and  to  the  best  interests  of  those  that 
were  widowed  or  made  fatherless  by  that  merciless  contest.  He  could 
never  forget  those  who  shared  with  him  the  weary  march,  the  bivouac 
fires,  the  evening  meal,  the  sanguinary  engagements,  and  the  glori¬ 
ous  accomplishments  that  finally  brought  victory  to  our  banners  and 
peace  and  prosperity  to  our  borders.  For  them  in  their  misfortunes 
in  his  judgment  the  coffers  of  the  nation  should  be  opened,  and  for 
them  his  heart  ever  warmed  in  fraternity,  charity,  and  loyalty. 

Mr.  Speaker,  few  men  in  American  history  have  left  such  an  im¬ 
press  of  their  individuality  upon  the  public  mind  and  such  a  brill¬ 
iant  record  of  grand  and  glorious  achievements  as  General  John  A. 
Logan. 

Coming  from  the  ranks  of  the  people,  he  believed  in  the  good 
sense  and  honesty  of  the  masses,  and  his  heart  and  hand  were  ever 
for  their  good.  He  was  a  firm  Republican  and  believed  in  the  genius 
and  institutions  of  our  republican  Government,  and  tyranny  in  all 
forms  and  in  all  countries  found  an  inveterate  hater  in  him. 

As  citizen,  as  lawyer,  as  soldier,  as  legislator,  as  statesman  and 
orator,  as  husband,  father,  and  friend,  we  honor  him,  and  his  glory 
is  a  part  of  the  resplendent  and  imperishable  history  of  our  country. 


180 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


On  the  last  day  of  the  old  year,  with  muffled  drums  and  drooping 
flags,  General  John  A.  Logan  was  laid  to  rest.  It  was  a  raw, 
cloudy,  December  day,  and  the  snow  lay  white  on  the  country  hills 
and  mantled  with  the  symbol  of  purity  the  silent  resting  place  of 
the  lamented  dead.  A  dull,  gray  sky  hung  overhead,  and  at  times 
the  winter  rain  poured  in  freezing  torrents  upon  the  ground.  All 
nature  seemed  touched  with  sympathy  at  the  nation’s  loss,  and  joined 
in  the  tears  and  sobs  of  the  mourning  multitude.  He  had  died  the 
Sunday  before,  and  hotv  fitting  that  this  closing  scene  in  the  sol¬ 
dier’s  life  should  come  with  the  close  of  the  year.  John  A.  Logan 
and  the  old  year  went  out  together.  That  dark  but  handsome  face* 
that  manly  bearing,  will  be  seen  no  more  on  this  side  the  “dark 
river,”  to  whose  cold  tide  we  are  all  hastening. 

But  his  memory  will  endure  as  long  as  the  English  language,  and 
the  remembrance  of  his  great  deeds  will  be  as  imperishable.  Hon¬ 
est,  incorruptible,  and  true,  tender  as  a  woman,  brave  as  a  lion, 

0 

trusting  as  a  child,  his  life  passed  to  its  ending  without  stain  and 
without  reproach. 

In  that  beautiful  home  overlooking  our  capital  city,  where  he 
hoped  to  spend  so  many  happy  hours,  sits  the  widow  in  weeds  and 
mourning. 

A  vacant  chair,  an  empty  uniform,  medals  of  honor,  and  souvenirs 
of  affection  tell  of  the  loved  one  who  was,  but  comes  no  more. 

In  her  desolation  how  vividly  is  recalled  her  constant  devotion  to 
the  dead  we  honor.  At  home,  abroad,  in  the  field,  in  the  forum, 
here,  everywhere,  she  was  his  encouragement  and  almost  constant 
companion,  and  the  story  of  her  services  in  the  rude  hospital  on  the 
banks  of  the  Cumberland,  in  nursing  back  to  life  him  who  lay  bleed¬ 
ing  and  exhausted  from  wounds  and  exposure  received  and  endured 
on  the  field  of  Donelson,  is  a  grand  tribute  to  this  truly  American 
woman. 

And  with  her  tears  and  sobs  are  mingling  to-day  the  tears  and 
lamentations  of  hundreds  and  thousands  of  the  comrades  of  the  late 
war,  who,  appreciating  the  services  of  General  Logan  in  their  be¬ 
half,  mourn  his  death  as  a  personal  bereavement,  and  a  loss  to  the 
country  that  is  irreparable.  And  when  the  voice  that  called  him 
hence  shall  summon  those  from  whom  it  gave  him  grief  to  part, 
may  they  join  him  in  the  world  of  rest  and  peace — 

Where  no  storms  ever  beat  on  the  glittering  strands, 

And  the  years  of  eternity  roll. 


Address  of  Mr.  Pettibone,  of  Tennessee. 


181 


Address  of  Mr.  Pettibone,  of  Tennessee. 

Mr.  Speaker:  Goldwin  Smith,  in  one  of  his  most  brilliant  lectures 
delivered  during  the  time  of  our  civil  war  at  the  University  of  Cam¬ 
bridge,  speaking  of  that  splendid  Puritan  corps  known  as  tide  Iron¬ 
sides,  which  Oliver  Cromwell  organized  and  disciplined,  uses  in  sub¬ 
stance  this  language:  “That  splendid  yeomanry,  with  high  hopes 
and  convictions  of  their  own,  who  conquered  for  English  liberty  at 
Naseby,  at  Worcester,  and  at  Marston  Moor,  in  their  native  England, 
are  now  seen  no  more.  Here  they  have  left  a  great,  perhaps  a  fatal, 
gap  in  the  ranks  of  freedom.”  “But,”  he  adds  with  something  of 
pride  and  enthusiasm,  “under  Grant  and  Sherman  they  still  con¬ 
quer  for  the  good  old  cause.” 

And  what,  sir,  is  that  good  old  cause  ?  Do  we  not  know  that  it  is 
the  cause  of  Liberty  against  Slavery?  That  it  is  the  cause  of  freedom 
against  privileged  usurpation? 

“That  splendid  yeomanry”  which  the  historian  thus  eulogizes, 
transferred  over  sea,  became  the  fathers  and  founders  of  this  great 
Republic  of  the  West.  The  heart  and  core,  as  we  know,  came  from 
England.  It  was  reinforced  from  Scotland  and  from  Ireland.  In 
later  years  it  has  welcomed  German  and  Scandinavian  auxiliaries. 
When  the  time  came  to  sever  the  political  connection  between  the 
colonies  and  Great  Britain,  a  hundred  years  ago,  it  was  the  yeomanry, 
informed  and  instructed  by  Franklin,  and  Samuel  Adams,  and  Thomas 
Jefferson,  and  led  and  disciplined  by  Greene,  and  Wayne,  and  Wash¬ 
ington,  who  won  the  independence  of  these  States  and  established 
this  Union. 

And  when,  in  1861,  the  storm  of  civil  war  “blackened  all  our  hori¬ 
zon,”  it  was  the  yeomanry,  we  know,  who  furnished  the  volunteer 
soldiers  who  filled  the  ranks  of  the  Union  Army,  and  in  the  most 
desperate  of  campaigns,  in  the  direst  civil  war  of  all  time,  by  their 
persistence,  and  steadiness,  and  valor,  carried  the  starry  flag  to 
victory  and  saved  to  the  cause  of  civil  liberty  and  forthcoming  gen¬ 
erations  this  land  of  our  love  and  devotion,  and  by  universal  con¬ 
sent  first  of  these  volunteers  was  John  Alexander  Logan  !  To-day 
we  pause  in  this  forum  from  our  accustomed  work,  where  he  was 
once  a  living  force  and  where  his  resonant  voice  was,  in  former  years, 


182 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


wont  to  be  beard,  to  do  honor  to  his  memory  and  to  mark  onr  esti¬ 
mate  of  the  powers  and  merits  of  this  man. 

It  is  difficult  for  me,  as  I  doubt  not  it  is  to  all  his  old  comrades,  to 
think  of  Logan  dead.  He  had  so  much  virility,  so  much  of  real 
manliness,  such  pluck  and  brave  persistence,  that  he  seemed  to  be 
endowed  with  a  kind  of  perennial  youth.  And  so  I  doubt  not  he 
will  always  seem  —  for  his  fame  will  not  die  -J-  to  those  multitudes 
who  in  the  long  years  to  come  shall  read  the  deeds  of  this  splendid 
gentleman  and  stout  soldier  of  the  Union. 

By  the  common  consent  of  all  his  old  comrades,  and  by  the  acquies¬ 
cence  of  all  who  were  not  his  comrades,  and  never  saw  him  with  the 
blaze  of  battle  in  his  eyes,  he  was  the  typical  and  ideal  volunteer  sol¬ 
dier  of  the  Union  army  during  those  four  tremendous  years  when 
the  stern  question  was,  should  the  Republic  live  or  die. 

Mr.  Speaker,  John  A.  Logan  believed  with  the  faith  which  makes 
heroes  and  martyrs  that  in  the  maintenance  of  the  Union,  in  the  in¬ 
tegrity  of  its  territory,  and  in  the  complete  ascendency  of  its  Consti¬ 
tution  and  laws  were  bound  up,  not  alone  the  interests  and  welfare 
of  one  part  of  the  nation,  but  the  rights  of  all  American  citizens,  the 
birthright  of  untold  millions  yet  unborn,  the  triumph  of  republican 
liberty  throughout  the  world,  and,  as  a  necessary  sequence,  the  best 
results  and  fairest  fruits  of  Christian  civilization. 

He  believed,  as  did  the  Union  volunteers,  in  the  rights  of  all  men, 
because  they  are  men,  and  not  “  dumb,  driven  cattle,”  and  he  knew, 
and  his  comrades  knew,  that  the  victory  ought  to  be,  and,  in  the 
providence  of  Him  who  raises  up  and  pulls  down  nations  at  His  will, 
would  be,  the  victory  of  North  and  of  South  alike;  that  it  would,  in 
its  final  beneficent  results,  be  the  common  heritage  and  common 
glory  of  their  own,  and  of  the  children  and  children's  children  of 
those  then  “wearing  the  gray,”  who  were  arrayed  in  civil  strife 
against  them,  but  for  whose  manly  courage  and  stalwart  energy  in 
a  most  mistaken  cause  they  felt  a  stern  respect  and  admiration  like 
that  which,  in  the  great  Russian  campaign,  the  Cossacks  of  the  Don 
felt  for  Murat,  the  great  cavalry  leader  of  France! 

In  this  faith,  when  the  day  of  wordy  debate  was  past,  when  patch- 
work  compromises  would  no  longer  do,  when  the  dread  question  was 
put,  Shall  slavery  or  freedom  be  master  on  this  continent?  Logan 
made  his  decision.  We  all  know  his  antecedents.  We  all  know  how 
loth  he  was  to  take  up  arms  against  his  brethren.  His  mother  was 


Address  of  Mr.  Pettibone,  of  Tennessee. 


183 


born  at  Nashville,  almost  in  sight  of  the  Hermitage.  But  the  decis¬ 
ion  had  to  he  made.  He  resigned  his  seat  on  this  floor.  He  spoke 
with  a  tongue  of  fire  to  the  yeomanry  of  his  district  and  his  State, 
and  his  voice  echoed  throughout  all  the  land.  He  rallied  around  him 
a  regiment.  With  his  thousand  comrades  in  arms  he  swore  to  main¬ 
tain,  to  preserve,  and  to  protect  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  he  went  forth  to  the  dangers  of  uncertain  war  animated  by  the 
very  spirit  in  which  the  angel  of  freedom  speaks  in  the  spirited  verses 
of  Whittier: 

Then  Freedom  sternly  said,  “  I  shun 
No  strife  nor  pang  beneath  the  sun 
When  human  rights  are  staked  and  won. 

I  knelt  with  Zisco’s  hunted  flock, 

I  watched  in  Toussaint’s  cell  of  rock, 

I  walked  with  Sidney  to  the  block. 

The  Moor  of  Marston  felt  my  tread, 

Through  Jersey  snows  the  march  I  led, 

My  voice  Magenta’s  charges  sped.” 

It  was  to  maintain,  not  to  disintegrate  ;  to  preserve,  not  to  destroy, 
that  Logan  donned  his  country’s  uniform  of  blue.  With  reluctance, 
and  almost  with  heart-break,  he  took  up  the  gage  of  battle.  He 
knew  what  war  is.  He  knew  its  horrors,  and  all  its  blighting  curses. 
But  he  was  a  man  of  the  people.  He  was  simply  and  always  one 
of  the  plain  people  on  whom  Abraham  Lincoln  always  relied. 

Always  affable,  always  approachable,  careless  of  mere  form  for 
form’s  sake,  he  would  brook  no  disobedience  of  orders  or  dereliction 
of  duty.  His  courage,  which  always  rose  highest  when  dangers 
multiplied,  was  known  to  the  humblest  soldier  in  his  command,  and 
in  the  old  Army  of  the  Tennessee  he  was  more  to  us  than  a  Cheva¬ 
lier  Bayard,  for  we  always  felt  that  in  Logan  we  had  not  only  a 
gallant  and  splendid  general,  but  we  had  a  comrade  and  a  friend, 
tender,  and  helpful,  and  true,  as  well  as  brave  and  daring.  Around 
the  camp  fire  we  called  him  ‘‘Johnny,”  or  “Black  Jack.”  But  it 
was  by  way  of  endearment — as  an  expression  of  attachment  and  con¬ 
fidence. 

He  was  ever  king  of  hearts.  His  comrades  loved  him  because  they 
could  not  help  it.  And,  sir,  ever  since  the  war-drum  has  ceased  to  beat 
he  has  been  enshrined  in  the  very  hearts  of  the  old  soldiers  of  the 
Union.  We  loved  him  as  we  really  loved  no  other  great  soldier  of 
the  war,  and  we  know  how  he  loved  the  boys  in  blue  in  return. 


184  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

On  the  3d  of  July,  1863,  at  Vicksburg,  between  the  lines,  it  was 
my  fortune,  as  it  was  of  thousands  of  others,  to  see  the  meeting  of 
Grant  and  Pemberton  when  the  terms  of  the  famous  surrender  were 
agreed  to.  Accompanying  his  great  commander  was  Logan,  then 
in  the  prime  and  very  flower  of  his  magnificent  manhood.  His 
long,  black  hair,  how  it  shone  in  that  sunlight  ! 

I  seem  to  see  him  to-day  as  he  then  stood  on  that  open  ground  in 
the  clear  light  of  that  hot  July  sun.  His  every  unconscious  pose  and 
movement  seemed  instinct  with  his  character  and  heroic  purpose. 
And  so,  sir,  he  will  ever  stand  out  in  the  clear  perspective  of  his¬ 
tory.  As  he  stood  that  day,  out  against  a  background  of  clear  blue 
sky,  the  observed  of  all  who  saw  that  scene,  so  forever — fit  comrade 
of  his  chieftain  Grant — 

Let  his  great  example  stand 
Colossal,  seen  of  every  land, 

To  keep  the  soldier  firm,  the  statesman  pure, 

Till  through  all  lands  and  through  all  human  story, 

The  path  of  duty  be  the  way  to  glory. 


Address  of  Mr.  Haynes,  of  New  Hampshire. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  If  I  were  asked  what  element  in  General  Logan’s 
character  I  most  admired,  I  should  answer  his  constancy  and  his  con¬ 
sistency.  It  was  his  high  distinction  to  be  generally  recognized  as 
the  most  illustrious  example  the  war  produced  of  the  citizen  soldier 
as  distinguished  from  the  professional ;  and  when  the  great  citizen 
armies  disbanded  and  turned  their  faces  so  joyfully  to  their  homes 
and  the  pursuits  of  peace,  he  maintained  an  equal  distinction  as  the 
soldier’s  friend  in  the  legislative  councils  of  the  nation.  To  the  day 
of  his  death  his  course  was  such  as  commended  him  to  his  old  com¬ 
rades  as  a  champion  who  never  swerved  and  never  weakened  in 
defense  of  their  rights  and  their  interests.  As  a  soldier  he  won  by 
bravery  and  skill  the  plaudits  not  alone  of  those  whose  cause  was  his 
cause,  but  of  those  against  whom  his  efforts  were  directed. 

There  is  in  the  hearts  of  brave  men  who  with  their  lives  in  their 
hands  battle  for  their  convictions  a  chord  which  vibrates  with  admira¬ 
tion  and  respect,  and  even  with  a  sort  of  affection,  for  those  among 
their  opponents  who  deal  the  hardest  blows  in  honorable  warfare. 
Such  a  man  was  Logan  the  soldier,  and  it  is  a  matter  of  common 


Address  of  Mr.  Haynes,  of  New  Hampshire.  185 

knowledge  and  observation  witb  those  of  ns  who  wore  the  Union  bine 
that  onr  regard  for  the  manly,  soldierly  qualities  of  our  fallen  chief 
was  shared  in  an  almost  equal  degree  by  those  who  wore  the  confed¬ 
erate  gray. 

As  he  commanded  the  admiration  of  his  comrades  in  war,  in  peace 
he  won  their  love  and  their  affection.  On  the  battlefield  he  was  their 
trusted  leader.  In  the  council  halls  he  was  their  steadfast  champion 
and  friend.  As  a  Senator  he  came  to  be  recognized  as  the  great  pillar 
of  strength  upon  which  they  confidently  leaned,  and  it  was  a  confi¬ 
dence  which  never  Was  misplaced.  Probably  no  one  man  had  so 
great  a  part — certainly  not  a  greater — in  shaping,  directing,  and  urg¬ 
ing  the  legislation  of  the  past  twenty  years  in  the  special  interest  and 
for  the  relief  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Union  and  their  dependents. 

In  the  first  years  of  returning  peace  to  stand  by  the  soldiers  was 
only  to  float  with  the  popular  tide.  The  national  heart  was  over¬ 
flowing  with  gratitude  toward  those  who  with  songs  and  hosannas 
brought  the  wayward  sisters  back  to  their  seats  by  the  national  altar. 
Those  were  the  days  when  the  pulse  was  still  beating  with  the  ex¬ 
hilaration  of  close  contact  with  mighty  deeds  and  great  achievements. 
It  was  not  in  the  course  of  nature  that  the  open  generosity  which 
characterized  those  years  should  long  continue.  It  could  not  be  other¬ 
wise  than  that  gradually  selfish  considerations  should  assert  them¬ 
selves  ;  that  we  should  with  greater  pertinacity  dwell  upon  the  cost, 
and  more  frequently  insist  that  “  we  cannot  afford  it.” 

With  the  growth  of  that  sentiment  which  now  stands  appalled  at 
the  magnitude  of  our  pension-list  and  which  shudders  at  every  effort 
to  extend  it,  General  Logan’s  devotion  to  the  soldiers’  interest  asserted 
itself  in  renewed  efforts  in  their  behalf.  Oftener  than  otherwise  the 
pencil  of  the  venomous  cartoonist  when  using  him  as  a  subject  cari¬ 
catured  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  soldiers.  But  it  was  by  this  sign 
that  a  million  men  hailed  Logan  as  a  worthy  leader,  stood  by  him, 
swore  by  him,  and  attached  themselves  to  him  by  bonds  of  affection 
which  gave  him  a  personal  following  such  as  but  few  of  our  public 
men  have  ever  been  able  to  boast. 

When  the  tidings  of  his  unexpected  death  was  flashed  over  the  coun¬ 
try  it  brought  mourning  to  the  humble  home  of  many  a  soldier  to  whom 
Logan  was  known  only  by  name  and  by  reputation.  A  million  of 
these,  who  never  met  him,  who  never  saw  him,  felt  that  they  had 
suffered  a  personal  loss  which  could  never  be  replaced.  It  is  a  proud 


186 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


record  that  Logan  has  left  as  a  soldier.  It  will  he  quoted  that  after 
a  long  public  career  he  leaves  a  name  unstained  even  by  a  suspicion 
of  dishonor.  But  there  will  be  no  prouder  monument  to  his  memory 
than  the  love  and  affection  which  so  long  as  life  shall  last  will  dwell 
in  the  hearts  of  those  who  were  his  comrades  in  the  war  which  assured 
the  perpetuity  of  the  Union  and  the  grandeur  of  our  common  country. 


Address  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  of  New  Jersey. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  It  did  not  seem  like  Logan  to  die.  That  well-knit 
frame,  piercing  eye,  and  elastic  step,  all  spoke  of  life  and  vigor,  and 
added  years  of  activity.  But  even  as  we  looked  with  admiration 
upon  his  strength  and  vitality,  the  conqueror  came,  strength  became 
weakness,  and  life  was  death. 

Ah,  well,  the  years  sweep  swiftly  on ; 

Death’s  sickle  does  not,  may  not,  rest, 

And  shall  not  spare  the  brave,  the  best, 

For  any  prayer,  for  any  moan. 

And  to-day  we  cease  for  a  little  while  from  our  wonted  labor,  and, 
sinking  all  that  would  separate  us,  stand  animated  by  one  thought 
and  one  fraternal  feeling  before  the  tomb  wherein  lies  all  that  is 
mortal  of  a  brother  who  has  preceded  us  by  but  a  few  short  days — 
God  alone  knows  how  few — to  the  other  shore. 

Others  have  spoken  of  his  early  life  and  its  trials  and  triumphs, 
of  his  deeds  of  valor  as  the  citizen  soldier,  and  his  long  and  brilliant 
career  as  a  statesman.  Mine  the  lot  for  a  few  brief  minutes  to  speak 
of  him  as  an  orator  and  a  scholar.  To  those  whose  fortune  it  was  to 
hear  him  in  debate  or  upon  the  platform  it  is  not  necessary  to  say 
that  Logan  was  an  orator  in  the  highest  and  best  sense  of  the  term. 

He  did  not  use  the  tricks  or  cultivate  the  cheap  devices  of  the 
mere  declaimer.  Life  was  too  earnest  for  him,  and  his  time  was  too 
short  for  this.  He  had  the  best  of  all  attributes  of  the  orator,  an 
intense  conviction  of  the  truth  of  his  utterances,  and  an  earnestness 
of  manner  born  of  that  conviction.  He  spoke  because  he  had  some¬ 
thing  to  say,  and  which  he  believed  needed  to  be  said.  What  he 
believed  he  believed  with  all  the  intense  earnestness  of  his  nature, 
and  he  uttered  it  with  equal  intensity  and  earnestness.  However 
much  a  listener  might  differ  from  him  in  sentiment,  that  hearer 
always  felt  that  Logan  was  sincere. 


Address  of  Mr.  Buchanan,  of  New  Jersey. 


187 


This  it  was  which  gave  him  such  power  as  an  orator.  This  it  was 
which  enchained  the  attention  of  his  fellow  Senators  and  thronged 
the  halls  where  he  spoke.  The  world  will  always  listen  to  an  earnest 
and  sincere  man.  Rhetoric  and  grace  and  sweetness,  rounded  period, 
and  swelling  peroration,  all  these  please  the  ear;  hut  Logan  hurled 
rugged  truth,  in  impassioned  utterance,  at  the  mind  and  conscience 
of  his  hearers.  He  did  not  stop  to  parley,  hut  thundered  out  his 
thought  and  moved  straight  upon  the  enemy’s  works.  A  dehate  was 
with  him  no  dress-parade,  hut  a  battle  as  real  and  earnest  for  the 
time  being  as  any  he'diad  helped  to  win  as  a  soldier  beneath  his 
country’s  flag. 

And  yet  when  the  occasion  came  he  could  he  gentle  as  a  child  and 
tender  as  a  woman.  Let  a  comrade  fall  by  the  way  and  no  tenderer 
or  kinder  voice  spoke  his  virtues  than  did  the  voice  of  Logan. 

Less  than  one  year  ago,  standing  beside  the  tomb  of  his  great  leader. 
Grant,  he  uttered  these  words : 

Friends,  this  noble  man’s  work  needs  no  monument,  no  written  scroll  in  order 
that  it  may  be  perpetuated.  It  is  higher  than  the  dome  of  St.  Paul’s,  loftier  than 
S:.  Peter’s,  it  rears  itself  above  the  Pyramids,  it  soars  beyond  the  highest  mountain 
tops,  and  it  is  written  in  letters  of  the  sunbeam  across  the  blue  arch  that  forever 
looks  down  upon  the  busy  tribes  of  men. 

Logan  was  a  scholar.  Born  far  from  the  culture  of  city  and 
school,  reared  amid  the  surroundings  of  a  new  home  in  the  then  far 
West,  he  heard  in  his  boyhood  days  the  ruder  forms  of  speech  often 
incident  to  the  frontier.  Later  he  profited  by  the  culture  of  the 
schools,  yet  sometimes  when  warmed  in  debate  or  carried  away  by 
his  earnestness  he  would  momentarily  forget  that  culture  and  relapse 
to  the  speech  he  learned  in  his  boyhood  days. 

This  did  not  happen  often  nor  to  any  great  extent,  but  slight  as  it 
might  be  it  was  eagerly  seized  upon  by  those  who  would  rather  wound 
a  proud  and  sensitive  spirit  than  miss  an  item,  and  it  was  sent  out 
to  the  world  as  his  habitual  custom.  This  was  cruel  and  unjust.  I 
personally  know  that  it  caused  many  a  pang  not  only  to  his  heart  but 
to  the  heart  of  his  noble  and  loving  wife. 

Logan  was  a  scholar.  Go  to  the  library  in  yonder  lonely  home. 
Look  over  the  volumes  which  fill  its  shelves.  The  best  thought  of 
ancient  and  modern  times  is  there.  The  treasures  of  Greek  and  Ro¬ 
man  stand  side  by  side  with  the  gems  of  German,  French,  and  Eng¬ 
lish  literature.  His  books  were  read,  studied,  mastered.  No  idle 
ornaments  these.  Daily  companions  of  the  master  were  they.  No 


/ 


188 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


delight  so  keen  after  his  years  of  activity  in  camp  and  field  as  to  sit 
surrounded  by  these  mighty  minds  and  hold  deep  converse  with  them, 
and  as  the  years  rolled  by  their  influence  was  shown  more  and  more 
with  each  successive  utterance,  until  his  great  “  oration  at  the  tomb 
of  Grant  ”  showed  how  ripe  a  scholar  he  had  become. 

Human  utterances  pass  away  with  the  occasion  and  are  forgotten. 
Here  and  there  one  survives  and  passes  into  the  world’s  treasure- 
house  of  thought.  That  oration  of  his  will  live.  It  contains  the  seeds 
of  immortality.  N one  but  the  mind  of  a  scholar  could  have  conceived 
it  and  wrought  it  into  form  with  its  wealth  of  illustration  and  allu¬ 
sion.  As  he  marshals  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt,  the  Tombs  of  Mexico, 
the  Sculptures  of  Yucatan,  and  the  Mounds  of  North  America  as 
mute  witnesses  of  man’s  yearning  after  immortality,  we  think  with 
what  a  wealth  of  effort  these  material  structures  were  wrought,  and 
forget  the  years  of  patient  thought  and  unwearied  study  which  qualify 
a  mind  to  give  to  the  world  an  immortal  thought. 

That  patient  thought,  that  unwearied  study  was  his.  Shall  his 
work  survive  the  coming  centuries  ?  The  pyramid  builder  moldered 
into  dust  almost  ere  history  began,  and  his  work  yet  stands.  So,  too, 
the  child  rescued  from  “  the  marshes  of  the  Nile  ”  has  left  his  impress 
on  thirty  centuries  of  mind  and  thought.  A  yearning  for  immor¬ 
tality,  a  desfre  to  leave  an  impress  upon  the  thought  of  his  age,  seems 
to  have  been  upon  Logan  as  he  penned  that  oration,  and  it  will  take 
its  place  among  the  works  the  world  will  not  let  die. 

But  time  hastens,  and  one  word  more  may  be  allowed  me.  That 
busy  brain  is  stilled,  but  somewhere  in  the  broad  universe  of  God 
that  spirit  lives.  One  famous  to-day,  standing  by  the  open  grave  of 
a  beloved  brother,  could  only  grope  in  the  dark  for  some  faint  glim¬ 
merings  from  the  other  shore.  George  Eliot,  as  her  mighty  brain 
turned  to  things  celestial,  could  only  breathe  a  despairing  wish  to  join 
the  “choir  invisible,”  but  to  the  clearer  faith  of  Logan  the  life  be¬ 
yond  was  real,  and  in  that  faith  he  crossed  the  river.  The  battle  is 
over  and  the  soldier  is  at  rest.  God  be  thanked  for  his  life.  God 
be  praised  for  such  rest. 


Address  of  Mr.  Ward,  of  Illinois. 


189 


Address  of  Mr.  WARD,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  Where  duty  and  veneration  combine,  even  funeral 
sadness  is  made  lighter  and  less  sad.  In  common  with  the  Senate, 
this  House  owes  to  the  nation  and  to  mankind  the  duty  of  recording 
its  estimate  of  a  departed  public  servant.  As  a  fellow-citizen  of  the 
same  city  and  State  it  becomes  my  duty  to  speak  of  the  merits  of  our 
departed  Logan.  His  demise  leaves  a  felt  vacancy  in  the  Senate 
Chamber,  where  the  drapery  of  sorrow  woefully  speaks  the  loss  to 
that  body. 

Hot  less  significant  were  the  nation-wide  acknowledgments  of 
that  loss  echoed  back  to  these  Halls  in  the  chimes  of  funeral  bells 
across  this  continent.  The  North  tolled  their  bereavement,  the 
South  rang  out  the  same  sad  dirge,  and  the  clanging  was  repeated 
from  East  and  West.  Such  a  man’s  death  is  the  nation’s  loss,  and 
each  citizen  singly  deplores  it.  The  bank  of  human  friendship  is 
invincible  in  its  strength  of  deposit ;  but  its  great  assets  were  lessened 
when  John  A.  Logan  was  removed  to  a  higher  sphere. 

There  is  an  immortality  beyond  this  life.  The  power  of  a  great 
mind,  the  success  of  a  superior  human  intellect,  can  not  be  buried  in 
death,  and  Logan  will  live  forever  in  memory’s  world.  Upon  our 
own  and  the  actions  of  coming  generations  his  living  influence  is  and 
will  be  shown.  The  tracery  of  his  character  has  become  interwoven 
with  the  nature  of  this  generation,  and  can  not  die  while  our  Repub¬ 
lic  exists.  His  stern  personality  has  stamped  itself  upon  much  of 
our  abler  legislation. 

As  we  look  upon  his  desk  at  the  other  end  of  the  Capitol ;  as  they 
wait  in  vain  his  coming  to  the  Senate  Chamber  ;  as  we  tearfully  ac¬ 
knowledge  that  at  his  family  gathering  “  there  is  one  vacant  chair,” 
we  are  forced  to  say  “ Logan  is  dead”  ;  but  other  proofs  bid  us  de¬ 
clare  the  influence  of  his  life  still  burns  and  beats  in  the  pulses  of 
his  surviving  fellow-citizens. 

As  a  private  soldier  in  the  United  States  Army  in  the  war  with 
Mexico;  as  one  of  that  army’s  best  staff  officers  ;  as  a  colonel,  and 
finally  major-general,  in  his  country’s  cause  for  the  suppression  of 
the  rebellion,  the  same  marked  characteristics  governed  General 
Logan — a  stern  sense  of  duty  that  would  admit  of  neither  compro¬ 
mise  nor  hesitation  in  performance. 


190 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


At  the  beginning  of  the  war  the  republican  idea  in  full  had  not 
been  completely  developed.  It  was  an  evolution  from  the  conflict  of 
two  antagonistic  opinions.  An  idea  in  government  had  yet  to  be 
worked  out.  The  idea  of  Hamilton  and  the  idea  of  Jefferson,  formu¬ 
lated,  as  each  believed,  in  the  Constitution,  were  never  appreciated 
by  the  people  of  the  different  sections  of  this  Union  that  of  a  central¬ 
ized  Government  supported  by  independent  local  commonwealths 
called  States.  The  problems  of  State  rights  and  National  Govern¬ 
ment  were  involved  and  had  to  be  satisfactorily  adjusted. 

In  that  adjustment  General  Logan  could  see  that  it  was  Union  or 
no  Union,  fragmentary  existence  or  a  great  nationality,  and  his 
sword  flashed  quick  for  Union,  and  flashed  in  triumph  for  the  great 
and  grand  cause.  The  end  which  he  sought  was  an  undivided  Union 
and  universal  freedom.  He  threw  himself  far  into  the  battle,  and 
never  saw  the  rear  until  peace  smiled  over  the  Union  restored  and 
freedom  re-established. 

If  we  scan  the  whole  life  of  John  A.  Logan,  his  mature  years — 
those  years  which  other  men  devote  to  the  business  of  acquiring  for¬ 
tune — he  consecrated  to  his  country  on  bloody  fields  and  in  legislative 
halls,  in  the  dual  service  of  soldier  and  statesman.  In  a  long  career 
of  usefulness  and  distinction  in  civil  life  he  most  efficiently  aided  in 
those  measures  of  reform  legislation  that  do  credit  to  this  country. 
At  the  close  of  the  war,  worn  and  torn  by  the  strain  of  battle,  with¬ 
out  stopping  for  rest,  he  threw  all  his  strength  into  the  breach  the 
war  had  made  between  the  sections,  to  heal  it  by  his  statesmanship, 
and  when  death  closed  his  eyes  he  was  a  poor  man. 

His  civil  services  began  in  1849  as  clerk  of  his  county  court.  He 
served  his  people  in  the  Illinois  legislature  in  1852,  1853,  1856,  and 
1857,  and  served  in  the  Thirty-sixth,  Thirty-seventh,  Fortieth,  and 
Forty-first  Congresses,  and  in  the  United  States  Senate  from  1871  to 
1877.  Again  he  obeyed  the  people’s  call  and  was  returned  to  the 
United  States  Senate  in  1879,  and  was  re-elected  in  1885,  where  he 
was  found  busy  when  the  great  summons  came,  “  Cease  from  labor.” 

It  would  appear  difficult  to  add  to  this  lifetime  of  public  service. 
When  the  boy  had  barely  merged  into  the  man  he  left  home  and  its 
comforts,  profession  and  its  ambition,  to  enter  the  United  States 
Army  as  a  private  in  the  war  with  Mexico.  Again  with  his  loyal 
fellow-citizens  he  volunteered  to  defend  his  country  against  internal 
enemies.  He  served  throughout  that  war,  starting  in  as  colonel, 


Address  of  Mr.  Gcillinger,  of  New  Hampshire. 


191 


coming  out  as  major-general.  His  work  was  done  amid  the  smoke 
and  iron  hail  of  Belmont,  Donelson,  Shiloh,  Vicksburg,  Lookout 
Mountain,  Atlanta,  and  in  the  march  to  the  sea. 

By  the  brilliancy  of  his  movements,  by  the  chivalry  of  his  conduct, 
he  unconsciously  made  himself  the  idol  of  American  soldiery.  The 
peer  of  the  highest,  the  friend  of  the  humblest  in  the  land,  John  A. 
Logan  was  a  model  American  citizen  He  was  a  statesman  whose 
purity  of  character  prevented  his  being  a  mere  politician.  Firm  in 
his  political  convictions,  as  he  was  in  all  his  opinions  after  due  con¬ 
sideration,  he  was  also  as  invincible  a  warrior  in  the  arena  of  politics 
as  when  a  soldier  in  the  field  of  actual  war,  and  as  cowardice  was  im¬ 
possible  to  him  in  the  latter,  so  neither  was  he  unjust  or  malicious  in 
debate. 

Successful  or  defeated,  he  came  out  of  his  public  contests  without 
the  shadow  of  malice  or  revenge.  In  private  life  his  character  was 
as  unspotted  as  in  public.  His  integrity  was  never  impugned,  his 
motives  never  questioned,  or  his  conduct  charged  with  darkness. 
The  graceful  symmetry  of  his  daily  life  left  not  a  single  angle  upon 
which  could  hang  the  frosty  breath  of  slander.  The  shafts  of  envious 
or  malicious  traducement  struck  harmlessly  against  that  character  or 
fell  broken  from  its  adamantine  surface. 

Viewing  such  a  character  in  all  its  rounded  grandeur,  I  may  close 
my  remarks  by  holding  that  character  up  as  a  picture-lesson  to  the 
young  men  of  our  country. 


Address  of  Mr.  Gallinger,  of  New  Hampshire. 

Mr.  Speaker:  When  a  few  weeks  ago,  in  the  solitude  of  my  own 
home,  bowed  down  by  a  great  personal  sorrow,  the  news  of  the  death 
of  John  A.  Logan  flashed  over  the  wires  I  could  not  but  feel  that 
another  personal  grief  had  come  to  my  heart.  For  every  man  in  this 
nation  who  loves  liberty  and  loyalty  and  law  loved  him  in  whose 
memory  these  words  of  eulogy  are  being  spoken  to-day. 

It  was  not  my  good  fortune  to  intimately  know  General  Logan, 
yet  when  I  came  to  Washington  in  December,  1885,  it  was  my  priv¬ 
ilege  to  bring  a  letter  of  introduction  from  one  of  his  warmest  per¬ 
sonal  friends,  and  I  shall  never  forget  the  warmth  of  the  greeting 
then  received,  or  the  kind  request,  frequently  afterward  repeated  as 


192 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


we  casually  met,  to  visit  him  at  his  home.  That  pleasure  was  still 
in  anticipation  when  death  so  suddenly  removed  the  noble  man  and 
brave  soldier,  and  carried  to  that  household  the  darkness  of  desola¬ 
tion  and  the  overwhelming  grief  of  crushed  and  bleeding  hearts. 

But  it  was  not  necessary  for  one  to  personally  know  General  Logan 
to  gain  a  knowledge  of  his  character  and  attributes.  His  record  is 
written  on  every  page  of  the  history  of  his  country  since  the  troub¬ 
lous  times  commencing  in  1860.  When  that  great  conflict  came  and 
the  nation  needed  brave  men  to  defend  it  Logan  threw  all  his  energy, 
strength,  and  heroism  into  the  scale,  and  came  out  of  that  terrible 
struggle  with  a  record  for  bravery  and  military  skill  equal  at  least  to 
that  of  any  man  who  fought  on  either  side.  Rapidly  rising  from  a 
private  to  major-general,  he  was  the  pride  and  glory  of  the  men  whom 
he  commanded. 

His  battles  were  nearly  all  victories,  and  in  them  he  was  a  con¬ 
spicuous  figure,  inspiring  his  men  by  deeds  of  daring  unexcelled  in 
the  military  history  of  the  world.  What  wonder  that  he  was  the 

I 

idol  of  the  veterans  of  our  late  war!  What  wonder  that  the  common 
soldier,  recalling  the  events  of  that  great  conflict,  turned  to  John  A. 
Logan  as  his  best  friend!  What  wonder  that  wherever  soldiers  con¬ 
gregated —  around  the  camp-fire  and  at  their  reunions — the  mention 
of  Logan’s  name  was  always  greeted  with  manifestations  of  delight! 
And  surely  this  record  alone — the  love  and  honor  of  the  men  who 
left  home  and  dear  ones  to  do  brave  battle  for  the  Constitution  and 
the  Union — is  enough  to  immortalize  the  memory  of  one  of  the 
greatest  generals  of  modern  times. 

But  Logan  was  not  only  a  great  soldier — he  was  equally  a  great 
civil  leader.  Examine  the  long  record  of  his  public  life,  and  not  a 
blot  is  on  the  page.  Earnest,  aggressive,  and  eloquent,  his  words 
always  reflected  honest  convictions  and  high  purposes.  The  arts  of 
the  demagogue  were  unknown  to  him,  the  tricks  of  the  mere  politician 
were  antagonistic  to  his  ideas  of  public  duty.  As  so  many  have  tes¬ 
tified  to-day,  he  loved  truth  for  truth’s  sake  and  despised  pretense 
and  shams  of  every  kind.  Loyal  to  his  country,  he  was  equally  loyal 
to  his  convictions  on  all  public  matters,  and  wherever  the  finger  of 
duty  beckoned  he  followed  fearlessly  and  triumphantly. 

In  every  department  of  life — whether  as  soldier,  legislator,  coun¬ 
selor,  or  friend — in  the  army,  in  the  Senate,  or  anywhere  among  his' 
fellow-men,  he  was  the  circle  of  profound  respect  and  loving  admira- 


Address  of  Mr.  Gallinger,  of  New  Hampshire.  193 

tion,  while  in  the  sacred  precincts  of  his  own  home  he  was  the  light, 
the  joy,  and  the  inspiration,  and  the  deep  and  overwhelming  grief 
that  to-day  sweeps  over  the  heart  of  the  loving  companion  of  his 
life-work  is,  after  all,  the  most  eloquent  tribute  that  can  be  paid  to 
his  memory. 

Logan  was  a  great  man  in  the  best  meaning  of  that  word.  He 
was  both  physically  and  intellectually  strong.  He  towered  above 
the  masses  as  some  great  tree  towers  above  its  fellows. 

In  my  own  State,  on  a  lofty  mountain  peak,  is  the  perfect  face  of 
a  man,  formed  by  the  rocks  without  the  aid  of  human  intelligence  or 
human  effort.  Tourists  from  distant  lands  come  to  gaze  upon  “  the 
great  stone  face,”  and  go  away  with  feelings  of  awe  and  admiration. 
It  is  a  grand  face — grand  in  its  dignity  and  its  impressiveness — a 
face  that  haunts  one  in  after  years,  and  tells  the  story  of  nature’s 
grandeur  and  glory.  And  so,  too,  there  are  men  who  tower  to  the 
mountain  tops  of  human  experience  and  acquirement,  and  look  down 
upon  their  fellows  in  the  valleys  below.  Such  a  man  was  Logan — 
a  great,  strong,  noble  soul — a  natural  leader  of  men,  and  utterly  in¬ 
capable  of  the  petty  meannesses  that  mar  so  many  lives. 

But,  notwithstanding  his  greatness,  for  him  “  life’s  fitful  fever  ” 
has  ended.  His  ambitions,  struggles,  anxieties,  disappointments, 
and  triumphs  are  all  equally  at  rest.  W ere  it  not  for  the  greatness 
of  his  achievements  it  might  be  said  that — 

Wealth  and  glory,  and  place  and  power, 

What  are  they  worth  to  me  or  you  ? 

For  the  lease  of  life  runs  out  in  an  hour, 

And  Death  stands  ready  to  claim  his  due, 

Sounding  honors  or  heaps  of  gold, 

Where  are  they  all  when  all  is  told  ! 

But  for  a  man  like  Logan,  who  left  a  legacy  of  good  deeds  and 
honorable  ambition,  death  only  emphasizes  the  greatness  of  his  life 
and  adds  increased  luster  to  his  name.  And  so  long  as  humanity 
honors  real  worth  and  noble  endeavor,  the  name  of  John  A.  Logan 
will  be  a  cherished  memory  in  the  heart  of  every  true  citizen  of  the 
Republic. 

13  L 


r 


194 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Address  of  Mr.  Plumb,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  The  stream  of  human  life  flows  on  ceaselessly,  its 
tide  never  ebbs,  the  springs  that  support  it  are  as  unfailing  as  that 
great  fountain  of  purity  and  love  which  constitutes  the  soul  of  the 
Universe,  the  Infinite  Father  of  us  all.  To  us  who  are  but  infinitesi- 
mal  drops  in  the  eddying  flood  of  humanity  the  death  knell  of  our 
fellows  brings  fitting  occasions  on  which  to  fathom,  if  possible,  the 
deep  meaning  and  the  true  object  of  the  miracle  of  our  existence. 

The  fell  destroyer  comes  to  all  ranks  and  conditions  and  hurls  his 
fatal  shafts  at  loved  ones  in  the  humble  cottage  and  in  the  lordly 
mansion.  No  position  or  place  can  enable  us  to  elude  his  summons 
when  the  appointed  hour  has  fully  come. 

Since  the  commencement  of  the  present  Congress  twelve  members 
in  both  branches  have  joined  the  “  silent  majority,”  and  it  is  that  we 
who  remain  may  pay  proper  tribute  to  the  memory  of  the  last  of 
these,  General  John  A.  Logan,  United  States  Senator  from  Illinois, 
that  this  hour  is  set  apart. 

Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  but  a  few  weeks  since  Senator  Logan  sat  in  his 
honored  seat  in  the  other  end  of  the  Capitol  in  his  accustomed  health 
and  in  the  full  possession  of  that  mental  vigor  with  which  he  was  so 
richly  endowed  ;  but,  alas,  he  can  never  again  occupy  that  seat ;  the 
funeral  cortege  has  followed  his  mortal  remains  to  the  grave,  and  the 
nation  is  in  mourning.  From  the  sparkling  waters  of  the  Aroostook 
to  the  murky  Rio  Grande  Del  Norte,  from  the  everglades  of  Florida 
to  beyond  the  Olympic  Mountains  to  far-off  Alaska,  there  is  no  city 
or  town,  and  scarce  a  rural  neighborhood,  where  the  thoughts  and 
emotions  of  people  have  not  been  profoundly  moved  by  the  event  we 
are  here  to  contemplate. 

Representatives,  I  appeal  to  you,  what  better  use  can  we  who  for 
the  present  are  intrusted  with  official  power  make  of  the  present  oc¬ 
casion  than  to  seek  here  and  now  most  earnestly  for  the  secret  of  the 
dead  Senator’s  stronghold  on  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the 
American  people  ?  This  seeking  cannot  be  successful  without  a 
broader  view  than  any  single  life  can  furnish. 

General  Logan  lived  in  a  period  of  our  national  history  replete 
with  remarkable  events  —  a  period  in  which  men  in  public  life  en¬ 
countered  those  crucial  tests  that  not  only  developed  characters,  but 


Address  of  Mr.  Plumb,  of  Illinois. 


195 


decided  whether  they  were  to  live  in  the  hearts  of  their  countrymen 
as  benefactors  of  the  race,  or,  on  the  contrary,  to  he  either  entirely 
forgotten  or  remembered  only  to  he  execrated.  In  the  brief  time 
allotted  me  I  will  only  allude  to  a  few  of  these  tests  as  applied  to 
General  Logan,  and  these  only  to  show  that  had  he  failed  to  per¬ 
ceive  the  right,  or  lacked  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  the  name 
that  is  now  on  the  lips  of  all  would  not  he  known  to-day,  nor  his  mem¬ 
ory  fondly  cherished  by  sixty  millions  of  people. 

Returning  from  the  Mexican  war,  in  which  it  was  hut  natural  that 
one  full  of  intellect,  courage,  ambition,  and  physical  strength,  as  was 
young  Logan,  should  enlist,  we  find  him  entering  at  once  into  poli¬ 
tics,  an  active  member  of  the  dominant  party,  receiving  promotion 
at  its  hands,  first  to  the  legislature  of  his  State,  and  then  to  Congress  — 
ready  and  anxious  to  enter  upon  any  work  which  promised  to  him 
political  success. 

At  the  period  of  which  I  am  now  speaking  the  storm  which  had 
been  gathering  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  was  ready  to  burst  upon 
the  country.  Lincoln,  who  up  to  this  time  was  opposed  by  Logan, 
had  been  inaugurated  President.  The  slave  power  thus  beaten  at 
the  polls  and  defeated  in  its  avowed  purpose  of  extending  the  curse 
of  slavery  to  every  acre  of  our  territorial  domain,  to  the  end  that 
their  darling  institution  might  be  made  the  corner-stone  of  the  Re¬ 
public,  had  already  begun  to  move  in  open  rebellion. 

The  great  political  party  from  which  Logan  had  received  recog¬ 
nition  and  place,  although  stunned  and  shocked  by  the  proposed  re¬ 
bellion,  was  still  the  champion  of  slavery;  the  infamous  doctrine  of 
secession  for  the  sake  of  slavery  had  no  defender  outside  of  the  party 
of  which  he  was  a  member,  and  it  was  under  such  conditions  that 
the  real  qualities  of  John  Alexander  Logan  were  first  put  to  the 
crucial  test  that  was  to  settle  his  political  career. 

The  shock  of  the  rebellion  revealed  young  Logan  to  himself;  it 
found  him  a  politician,  it  made  him  a  statesman.  The  new  light  that 
shone  upon  him  “was  above  the  brightness  of  the  sun,”  and  in  it  he 
saw  as  never  before  the  fell  purpose  of  the  “Great  Conspiracy”  and 
the  dire  consequences  of  its  success.  His  eagle  eye  scanned  the  con¬ 
flict  as  if  it  were  a  raging  battle,  and  his  mind  was  made  up.  To 
him  liberty  and  union  were  one  and  inseparable,  and  on  their  perpe¬ 
tuity  must  advancing  civilization  depend;  without  them,  he  could  see 
no  hope  for  “liberty  enlightening  the  world.” 


196 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Mr.  Speaker,  it  is  easy  for  us  now  to  look  back  upon  this  trying 
hour  and  in  the  light  of  history  see  that  it  was  easy  to  ignore  party 
and  stand  by  the  flag;  but,  sir,  I  can  well  understand  that  to  cut 
loose  at  once  and  forever  from  the  ties  that  had  bound  young  Logan 
(then  but  about  thirty-two  years  of  age)  to  his  political  associates, 
and  to  consecrate  himself  from  that  hour  to  the  flag  and  to  freedom, 
was  to  try  him  as  by  fire.  The  occasion  was  just  such  a  one  as 
was  in  its  nature  calculated  to  call  into  exercise  those  qualities  of 
mind  and  heart  that  have  made  Senator  Logan  a  conspicuous  figure 
in  our  national  history.  It  was  his  ability  to  perceive  what  duty  de¬ 
manded  and  courage  to  do  it  that  made  him  what  he  was.  This,  sir, 
is  the  key-note  to  his  character,  this  the  secret  of  his  power,  this  the 
pathway  that  led  him  to  renown.  Having  chosen  the  true  path  in 
that  trying  hour,  let  us  see  how  faithfully  he  followed  it. 

He  knew  full  well  that  crushing  the  rebellion  meant  the  emanci¬ 
pation  of  the  negro  and  his  elevation  to  citizenship,  but  he  felt  that 
it  was  right,  and  he  dared  to  enlist  all  his  powers  to  accomplish  that 
end.  He  knew  that  rebellion,  such  as  that  waged  for  the  preservation 
of  human  slavery  by  a  government  based  solely  on  the  idea  of  man’s 
right  to  freedom  was  a  crime,  and  he  never  failed  to  denounce  it  as 
such.  He  knew  that  the  true  patriot  would  give  his  life,  if  need  be, 
to  his  country;  and  without  hesitation  or  delay  he  entered  the  serv¬ 
ice,  was  a  true  and  gallant  soldier,  an  able  and  successful  com¬ 
mander,  always  ready  to  lead  his  men  where  duty  called,  whether  to 
shelter  and  rest  or  to  fighting  and  fatigue.  Logan  never  turned  his 
back  on  the  foe  in  the  fight,  upon  an  opponent  in  debate,  nor  upon  a 
friend  anywhere.  In  all  these  things  he  was  right,  and  dared  to 
stand  there  because  it  was  right. 

When  the  rebellion  had  been  crushed,  and  Logan  was  once  more 
in  his  place  in  the  councils  of  the  nation,  he  met  each  question  that 
arose  in  the  trying  work  of  reconstruction  in  the  same  way  that  he 
decided  to  change  his  political  course — by  choosing  what  was  right, 
and  going  straight  forward  to  accomplish  it. 

He  was  the  soldiers’  true  friend,  because  he  knew  that  the  nation 
owes  to  the  army  of  the  Union  a  debt  that  it  can  never  pay.  With 

i 

him  it  was  no  sham  affection,  it  was  a  comrade’s  love  for  comrades, 
and  in  every  speech  and  vote  in  Congress,  and  elsewhere,  he  never 
failed  to  make  his  regard  for  the  members  of  the  Grand  Army  ef¬ 
fective  for  their  good.  For  the  soldier,  whether  officer  or  private, 


Address  of  Mr.  Plumb,  of  Illinois. 


197 


who  through  either  cowardice  or  insubordination  failed  to  obey  the 
orders  of  his  superiors,  he  had  nothing  but  earnest  condemnation, 
which  no  influence  could  induce  him  to  withhold. 

He  was  for  protection  for  the  sake  of  protection,  and  because  the 
principle  is  a  right  one  it  had  his  support. 

He  was  for  giving  national  aid  to  the  cause  of  common-school  edu¬ 
cation,  believing  that  illiteracy  is  the  natural  enemy  of  free  institu¬ 
tions  and  that  its  obliteration  at  whatever  cost  would  be  a  saving  of 
money  to  the  nation.  He  believed  that  the  enfranchised  negro  by 
being  educated  would  better  discharge  his  duties  as  a  citizen,  and 
with  it  would  vindicate  his  right  to  a  recognition  as  a  peer  among 
his  fellow-men.  It  was  by  his  especial  championship  that  the  bill 
now  before  this  House  to  aid  the  common  schools  in  the  States  and 
Territories  was  amended  by  an  appropriation  of  $2,000,000  for  the 
erection  of  school-houses  wherever  the  colored  people  are  too  poor  to 
erect  them,  so  that  all  might  secure  the  priceless  boon  of  a  common- 
school  education. 

His  firm  adherence  to  the  right  went  with  him  into  social  and 
family  life,  and  in  these  relations  won  for  him  the  highest  meed  of 
praise.  He  knew  full  well  that  the  heart  of  a  true  woman  naturally 
furnishes  to  man  a  rich  soil,  which  needs  only  his  cultivation  to 
insure  ample  returns  in  all  that  is  needed  to  make  home  happy.  All 
this  he  enjoyed  in  abundant  measure,  furnishing  an  example  to 
which  all  good  citizens  can  point  with  pride  and  emulate  with  profit. 

Mr.  Speaker,  if  my  time  would  permit  I  would  touch  briefly  upon 
more  of  the  acts  of  the  great  soldier  and  statesman  that  go  to  show 
that  he  owed  his  proud  position  as  a  public  man  to  his  fearlessness 
in  doing  whatever  he  thought  to  be  right,  but  I  must  forbear. 

Sir,  the  State  which  I  have  the  honor  in  part  to  represent  on  this 
floor  has  furnished  her  full  quota  of  the  illustrious  men  who  have 
been  great  actors  in  the  period  in  our  national  history  to  which  I 
have  before  referred.  That  grandest  of  Presidents  (Lincoln)  and 
that  greatest  of  captains  (Grant)  both  matured  their  manhood  as 
citizens  of  Illinois;  but  Logan,  worthy  to  have  been  the  Chief  Magis¬ 
trate  of  the  nation,  the  great  volunteer  general  of  the  war,  whose 
name  and  memory  will  be  linked  with  Lincoln  and  Grant  as  long  as 
history  shall  be  read,  Illinois  proudly  claims  as  her  own  son. 

Whatever  may  be  the  conclusion  of  the  philosopher  or  the  faith  of 
the  Christain  as  to  the  life  to  come,  we  can  never  again  on  earth 


198 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


look  upon  the  manly  form  of  John  Alexander  Logan.  His  voice, 
so  often  raised  in  defense  of  the  integrity  of  the  U  nion  and  of  uni¬ 
versal  freedom,  will  never  more  he  heard  in  this  Capitol ;  the  people 
of  the  United  States  who  have  so  often  been  moved  by  his  earnest 
appeal  will  never  greet  him  again  with  their  hearty  cheers ;  the  vet¬ 
erans  of  the  Union  Army  who  loved  him  so  well  can  never  again 
rend  the  air  with  their  shouts  at  his  appearance ;  but  he  can  not  be 
forgotten. 

Let  monuments  be  erected  to  his  memory,  let  orator  and  poet 
chronicle  his  worthy  deeds  •  but  when  the  marble  no  longer  depicts 
to  our  eyes  his  manly  figure,  when  eloquence  and  song  can  no  longer 
charm  us  with  the  recital  of  his  noble  qualities,  coming  generations 
will  speak  of  his  worth  and  be  influenced  by  his  example. 


Address  of  Mr.  Jackson,  of  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  I  regard  it  as  eminently  fit  and  appropriate  that 
Congress  should  in  this  formal  manner  place  upon  its  records  the 
testimony  of  the  living  to  the  worth,  virtue,  and  high  character  of 
the  man  who  was*  so  recently  one  of  its  most  distinguished  members. 
John  A.  Logan,  to  the  honor  of  whose  memory  this  House  has  ceased 
its  ordinary  business  and  strives  to  pay  a  sincere  and  heartfelt  tribute, 
was  much  more  than  a  distinguished  Representative  or  Senator  in 
Congress. 

He  was  a  man  who  in  a  life  half  a  score  years  shorter  than  the 
Psalmist’s  allotted  time,  demeaned  himself  so  well  as  citizen,  as  vol¬ 
unteer  soldier,  as  commander  of  regiment,  brigade,  division,  corps, 
and  army,  as  legislator  in  these  Halls,  that  I  am  at  a  loss  to  say  in 
which  position  he  did  most  to  gain  that  pre-eminence  he  so  justly 
holds  in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen. 

His  was  an  active  life  that  from  early  manhood  down  to  within  a 
few  days  of  his  death  scarce  knew  a  day’s  repose.  Endowed  with  a 
strong  constitution  and  unusual  vigor  of  body  and  mind,  he  might, 
so  far  as  we  can  judge,  with  ordinary  labor  in  the  usual  walks  of  life, 
have  lived  to  a  good  old  age. 

But  he  had  a  brain  and  will  that  would  not  endure  rest  and  quiet, 
and  he  literally  “  wore  his  life  away  ”  as  a  prominent  actor  in  the 
stirring,  eventful,  and,  I  may  say  in  part,  fearful  and  terrible,  times 
in  which  his  lot  was  cast.  It  was  his  fortune  to  live  in  an  age  in 


Address  of  Mr.  Jackson,  of  Pennsylvania.  199 

which  the  greatest  events  of  modern  times  have  transpired.  We  do 
not,  perhaps,  fully  realize  that  we  have  ourselves  been  eye-witnesses 
and,  in  part,  humble  participants  in  the  most  important  part  of  our 
country’s  history.  No  matter  how  grand  or  glorious  a  future  lie  be¬ 
fore  us,  to  the  generations  yet  to  come,  the  history  of  our  country 
for  the  past  thirty  years  must  for  all  time  be  the  most  interesting 
and  important  to  the  student  and  patriot.  During  all  this  time  the 
record  of  the  life  and  services  of  John  A.  Logan  is  so  blended  with 

j 

the  history  of  our  country  that  they  are  inseparable. 

It  is  not  that  in  every  quality  of  mind  or  capacity  for  service  he 
excelled  each  and  all  of  his  associates,  but  it  is  because  in  every 
position  he  has  occupied,  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  he  has 
acquitted  himself  as  one  of  the  best  representative  citizens  of  his  age. 
Since  the  death  of  Grant,  the  great  chieftain  whose  soul  went  up  to 
God  from  Mount  McGregor,  no  citizen  of  the  United  States  was  so 
well  known  as  Logan.  His  name  was  in  very  truth  a  household 
word  throughout  the  land.  His  every  act  was  open  to  inspection 
and  criticism.  How  honestly,  how  wisely,  how  modestly  he  has 
borne  himself  in  every  condition  and  under  every  circumstance  let 
history  answer  ;  yea,  more,  let  those  who  were  from  time  to  time  his 
opponents  be  his  judges,  and  his  reputation  is  safe. 

He  will  be  remembered  as  a  progressive  statesman,  who  was  prompt 
to  recognize  the  high  responsibilities  and  duties  that  came  in  his  day 
upon  this  nation.  He  strove  to  garner  the  fruits  of  the  war,  that 
coming  generations  might  enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  heroic  sacrifices 
that  were  made  to  save  the  Government.  He  was  a  sincere  advocate 
of  the  rights  of  labor,  a  friend  of  law  and  order,  and,  in  favor  of  his 
own  countryjnen,  consistently  demanded  the  protection  of  American 
industries  from  foreign  pauper  competition. 

t  • 

Of  his  success  as  a  leader  in  times  of  peace  and  in  the  broad  field 
of  true  politics  I  leave  others  to  speak  more  at  length. 

As  has  already  been  well  said  here  to-day,  he  sat  in  this  Hall  with 
Thaddeus  Stevens,  James  G.  Blaine,  and  James  A.  Garfield,  and 
was  accounted  their  equal  in  party  control ;  that  in  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States  he  divided  leadership  with  Charles  Sumner,  Oliver  P. 
Morton,  Roscoe  Conkling,  and  John  Sherman,  and,  I  may  add,  that 
but  few  men  have  ever  lived  in  our  country  who  had  as  many  en¬ 
thusiastic,  devoted  followers  who  hoped  to  see  their  chief  fill  with 
honor  the  high  office  of  President. 


200 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


It  was  my  fortune  to  serve  for  four  years  as  a  soldier  in  the  Army 
of  the  Tennessee,  of  which  General  Logan  was  from  the  first  a  promi¬ 
nent  leader,  and  at  last  its  commander,  and  I  know  I  speak  the  gen¬ 
eral  sentiment  of  the  soldiers  of  that  army  when  I  join  in  deep  sorrow 
and  with  full  and  overflowing  heart  to  pay  a  tribute  of  honor,  friend¬ 
ship,  and  love  to  his  memory.  The  Army  of  the  Tennessee  was  suc¬ 
cessively  commanded  by  Grant,  Sherman,  McPherson,  Howard,  and 
Logan.  It  has  always  been  the  boast  of  those  who  served  in  it  that 
it  never  had  a  commander  that  was  not  a  success  and  never  had  one 
removed  except  to  be  given  a  higher  command.  Yet  it  was  as  a  sub¬ 
ordinate  and  later  as  a  successor  to  such  distinguished  and  never-to- 
be-forgotten  men  that  Logan  won  and  maintained  the  high  place  he 
holds  in  the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  soldiers  of  that  Army. 

Long  before  he  became  its  commander  he  was  as  well  known  to  the 
men  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  as  either  Grant,  Sherman,  or  Mc¬ 
Pherson.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  he  was  superior  to  either  of  them. 
But  he  was  a  real  soldier,  a  man  of  immense  force  and  power,  who 
had  the  confidence  of  the  army,  and  I  can  recall  more  than  one  occa¬ 
sion  when  his  presence  on  the  field  under  fire  was,  in  my  judgment, 
worth  “more  than  a  thousand  men.”  There  is,  perhaps,  no  soldier 
who  served  in  that  army  but  who  can  recall  incidents  of  the  camp, 
the  march,  and  the  field  in  which  Logan  was  prominent  and  with 
which  he  will  always  associate  his  name. 

It  would  be  a  pleasure  to  here  recount  the  battles,  marches,  and 
campaigns  in  which  he  took  a  prominent  part,  but  time  will  not  per¬ 
mit.  To  do  so  would  be  but  to  repeat  the  greater  part  of  the  story 
of  the  four  years’  gallant  and  heroic  service  of  the  Army  of  the  Ten¬ 
nessee.  That  story  is  a  well-known  part  of  our  country’s  glorious 
history.  It  embraces  Belmont  and  Donelson,  Shiloh,  Corinth,  and 
Vicksburg,  Lookout  Mountain  and  Missionary  Ridge.  It  includes 
the  terrible  campaign  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta,  with  its  weeks 
of  unceasing  battle,  described  by  a  private  soldier  in  a  letter  to  his 
wife  as  “the  battle  of  May  and  June,”  the  “ March  to  the  Sea,”  with 
Savannah,  Bentonville,  and  Raleigh. 

But  the  four  long  years  of  war  ended.  “  Glad  was  our  army  that 
morning”  when  we  heard  the  joyful  news  that  Johnston  had  surren¬ 
dered.  Peace  had  come  at  last  and  visions  of  home  and  loved  ones 
were  before  us. 

Soon  the  grand  review  followed  at  Washington,  where  the  veteran 


Address  of  Mr.  Jackson,  of  Pennsylvania.  201 

armies  of  the  Union  were  accorded  a  triumph  unequaled  in  history. 
Then  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  under  the  command  of  General 
Logan,  moved  to  Louisville,  Ky.,  preliminary  to  its  muster  out  of 
service.  I  hold  in  my  possession  now,  as  one  of  the  most  valued 
mementoes  of  the  war,  the  order  from  General  Logan  directing  me 
to  proceed  with  my  regiment  to  the  State  where  it  was  organized,  to 
muster  it  out  of  service,  and  send  the  men  to  their  homes. 

It  is  the  wonder  of  the  world  that  immense  armies  of  veteran  sol¬ 
diers  like  we  had  at  the  close  of  the  civil  war  could  be  disbanded  at 
once,  and  that  men  inured  to  long  service  in  the  field  would  make 
peaceable,  industrious  citizens.  But  it  should  be  remembered  that 
Logan  and  the  soldiers  he  commanded  entered  the  Army  not  for 
military  glory,  nor  for  love  of  the  profession  of  arms.  The  alarm  of 
war  found  them  citizens  busily  engaged  in  the  employments  that 
many  years  of  peace  made  possible  in  our  beloved  country.  The 
threatenings  of  wicked  men  to  destroy  the  Government  had  so  long 
fallen  unheeded  upon  their  ears  that  some  said  this  people  lack  the 
courage  and  the  manhood  to  resent  an  insult  or  defend  the  heritage 
of  their  fathers. 

But  when  the  first  blow  was  struck  by  traitor  hands,  and  the  Chief 
Magistrate  called  the  citizens  to  arms,  how  changed  !  Then  it  was 
that  the  farmer  boys  left  their  homes,  the  mechanic  his  shop,  the 
student  his  books,  organized  themselves  into  companies  and  regi¬ 
ments,  tendered  their  services  as  soldiers  to  their  country,  and 
marched  to  the  front  with  an  enthusiasm  and  a  determination  that 
astonished  the  world.  Nor  was  it  an  enthusiasm  of  the  hour,  to  be 
chilled  by  the  first  reverse  or  defeat.  It  was  a  settled  determination, 
born  of  the  belief  that  they  were  right  and  their  enemies  were  wrong. 
It  was  a  firm  conviction  that  underlying  the  contest  was  a  great 
moral  principle,  and,  appealing  to  the  God  of  battles  for  His  support, 
they  went  forth  to  fight  for  their  country  as  their  highest  duty. 

No  wonder  that  such  soldiers  as  these,  when  the  rebellion  was 
destroyed  and  the  Government  was  saved  with  the  blot  of  slavery 
effaced,  laid  down  their  arms,  went  to  their  homes,  and  became  the 
best  of  citizens. 

We  yet  see  how  uncomplainingly  many  of  these  men  bear  the 
twinge  and  pain  of  wounds  received  in  battle,  which  each  year  grow 
more  severe,  and  pass  their  declining  days  with  broken  health  and 
suffering  with  diseases  contracted  in  their  severe  service. 


4 

202  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

4 

It  lias  been  said  here  to-day,  as  it  is  often  said  elsewhere,  that 
Logan  was  the  highest  type  of  this  class  of  volunteer  soldiers  ;  that 
he  was  the  personification  of  that  host  of  patriotic  young  men  who  left 
homes  and  pleasant  vocations  at  the  call  of  their  country.  I  think 
there  is  much  truth  in  this,  and  that  it  is  one  of  the  highest  honors 
that  can  be  accorded  to  him.  But  I  think  there  is  too  much  weight 
given  to  the  idea  that  he  attained  his  popularity  among  soldiers  be¬ 
cause  he  was  a  volunteer  officer  as  distinguished  from  officers  who 
had  been  educated  at  West  Point. 

The  Army  of  the  Tennessee  had  for  commanders  Grant,  Sherman, 
and  McPherson,  all  regulars,  and  the  surviving  soldiers  of  that 
Army,  much  as  they  love  and  cherish  the  memory  of  Logan,  would 
not  ask  me  to  say  here  to-day  that  as  a  soldier  and  commander  in  the 
field  he  stood  higher  in  their  esteem  than  either  of  the  three  others 
I  have  named. 

I  consider  that  Logan’s  conduct  and  services  since  the  war  had 
much  to  do  in  giving  him  the  pre-eminent  place  he  undoubtedly  holds 
to-day  in  the  hearts  of  the  surviving  soldiers  of  the  Republic.  After 
the  war  he  remained  in  full  sympathy  with  them  and  has  represented 
them  earnestly  and  fully  in  Congress  and  wherever  they  needed  a 
spokesman  or  friend. 

He  took  great  interest  in  all  associations  of  soldiers;  was  an  active 
member  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic,  and  was  justly  esteemed 
as  a  representative  both  in  public  and  private  life  of  the  fraternity, 
charity,  and  loyalty  on  which  the  order  is  founded.  He  died  from 
the  effects  of  wounds  received  in  battle  and  from  disease  contracted 
by  exposure  in  the  service.  In  this  respect  he  is  a  representative  of 
that  vast  host  of  soldiers  who  came  home  disabled  and  broken  in 
health,  whose  lives  are  shortened  by  the  service  they  gave  their 
country. 

How  it  must  have  grieved  the  generous,  noble  heart  of  Logan  to 
see  such  men  as  these  neglected  by  the  Government  they  had  saved 
and  denied  the  assistance  that  just  laws  would  have  given  them. 

Hot  for  himself  did  he  demand  additional  laws  to  do  justice  to  the 
soldiers  of  the  country,  for  he  denied  himself  a  pension  he  so  justly 
deserved  and  could  have  readily  obtained,  only  that  he  might  better 
serve  his  more  unfortunate  comrades. 

When  he  died  the  disabled  soldier  and  his  dependent  relatives  lost 
not  only  their  best  but  ablest  friend.  But  he  is  gone  from  earth,  and 


Address  of  Mr.  Jackson,  of  Pennsylvania. 


203 


his  body  is  laid  to  rest  among  his  kindred  in  the  land  that  gave  him 
birth.  A  nation  mourns  his  death.  He  has  joined  that  grand  army 
of  patriots  whose  lives  went  out  in  the  shock  of  battle  or  wasted 
away  in  hospital  or  prison  pen.  Henceforth  he  stands  as  a  repre¬ 
sentative  of  the  fallen. 

On  Fame’s  eternal  camping  ground 
Their  silent  tents  are  spread, 

And  Glory  guards  with  solemn  round 
The  bivouac  of  the  dead. 

He  died  not  of  age  or  lingering  decay.  “  His  eye  was  not  dim,  nor 
his  natural  force  abated.”  Within  a  few  days  of  his  death  he  was 
engaged  in  active  work.  We  can  recall  his  appearance  almost  like 
those  who  fell  in  the  field,  whose  lives  went  out  in  their  young  man¬ 
hood.  It  is  a  pleasing  thought  that  we  always  recollect  those  who 
went  to  the  army  and  came  not  back  again  as  young  and  full  of  hope 
and  high  resolve.  They  are  our  “immortals.”  They  never  grow 
old.  To  their  friends  and  kindred  the  fallen  are  ever  young,  and  in 
memory  live  on  in  perpetual  youth. 

Such  be  the  recollection  of  him  we  mourn  to-day. 

Logan  was  honored  in  his  death  by  municipal  and  civil  organiza¬ 
tions,  by  Army  societies,  and  Grand  Army  posts  as  few  men  have 
ever  been.  From  all  over  this  broad  land  came  resolutions  of  sin¬ 
cere  condolence  to  the  afflicted  family. 

Each  year  hereafter  on  memorial  day,  in  every  cemetery,  church¬ 
yard,  and  God’s  acre  throughout  our  country,  where  a  soldier’s  grave 
is  made  green,  there  will  be  a  wreath  for  him.  In  every  neighborhood 
where  they  meet  to  “bedeck  the  soldiers’  graves  with  flowers  and 
bedew  them  with  tears,”  when  they  give  a  double  portion  to  the 
little  mound  that  represents  those  who  sleep  in  distant  or  unknown 
graves,  some  one  “most  loving  of  them  all”  will  strew  the  flowers 
in  memory  of  the  man  who  instituted  this  beautiful  ceremony. 

The  credit  of  inaugurating  this  custom  is  all  due  to  John  A.  Logan, 
who,  as  commander  of  the  Grand  Army,  issued  this  beautiful  and 
now  historic  order: 

The  30th  of  May,  1868,  is  designated  for  the  purpose  of  strewing  with  flowers  or 
otherwise  decorating  the  graves  of  comrades  who  died  in  defense  of  their  country 
during  the  late  rebellion,  and  whose  bodies  now  lie  in  almost  every  city,  village, 
and  hamlet  churchyard  in  the  land.  In  this  observance  no  form  of  ceremony  is 
presented,  but  posts  and  comrades  will,  in  their  own  way,  arrange  such  fitting 
services  and  testimonials  of  respect  as  circumstances  will  permit. 

We  are  organized,  comrades,  as  our  regulations  tell  us,  for  the  purpose,  among 


204 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan . 


other  things,  “of  preserving  and  strengthening  those  kind  and  fraternal  feelings 
which  have  bound  together  the  soldiers,  sailors,  and  marines  who  united  to  sup¬ 
press  the  late  rebellion.” 

What  can  aid  more  to  assure  this  result  than  cherishing  tenderly  the  memory  of 
our  heroic  dead,  who  made  their  breasts  a  barricade  between  our  country  and  its 
foes  ?  Their  soldier  lives  were  the  reveille  of  freedom  to  a  race  in  chains,  and  their 
death  the  tattoo  of  rebellion’s  tyranny  in  arms.  We  should  guard  their  graves  with 
sacred  vigilance.  All  that  the  consecrated  wealth  of  the  nation  can  add  to  their 
adornment  and  security  is  but  a  fitting  tribute  to  the  memory  of  her  slain  defend¬ 
ers.  Let  no  wanton  foot  tread  rudely  on  such  hallowed  grounds.  Let  pleasant 
paths  invite  the  going  and  coming  of  reverent  visitors  and  fond  mourners.  Let 
no  vandalism  of  avarice  or  neglect,  no  ravages  of  time,  testify  to  the  present  or 
coming  generations  that  we  have  forgotten  as  a  people  the  cost  of  a  free  and  undi¬ 
vided  Republic. 

If  other  eyes  grow  dull,  and  other  hands  slack,  and  other  hearts  cold  in  the 
solemn  trust,  ours  shall  keep  it  warm  as  long  as  the  light  and  warmth  of  life 
remain  to  us. 

Let  us  then,  at  the  time  appointed,  gather  around  their  sacred  remains  and  gar¬ 
land  the  passionless  mounds  above  them  with  the  choicest  flowers  of  springtime  ; 
let  us  raise  above  them  the  dear  old  flag  they  saved  from  dishonor ;  let  us  in  this 
solemn  presence  renew  our  pledges  to  aid  and  assist  those  whom  they  have  left 
among  us,  a  sacred  charge  upon  the  nation’s  gratitude — the  soldiers’  and  sailors’ 
widows  and  orphans. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  commander-in-chief  to  inaugurate  this  observance  with 
the  hope  that  it  will  be  kept  up  from  year  to  year  while  a  survivor  of  the  war 
remains  to  honor  the  memory  of  his  departed  comrades.  He  earnestly  desires  the 
press  to  lend  its  friendly  aid  in  bringing  it  to  the  notice  of  comrades  in  all  parts  of 
the  country  in  time  for  simultaneous  compliance  therewith. 

Give  him  the  honor  he  so  feelingly,  so  eloquently  claimed  for  his 
comrades,  and  let  ns  be  proud  we  are  such  a  nation  and  have  such 
examples  among  onr  people  as  the  life  and  services  of  John  A.' 
Logan. 

Others  have  spoken  of  his  domestic  life  better  than  I  can  do.  He 
was  a  kind  father,  a  loving  husband,  and  a  sincere  Christian  ;  a  man 
whose  pure  and  exemplary  conduct  in  private  added  additional 
luster  to  his  distinguished  public  record.  But  his  course  on  earth  is 
finished. 


Close  his  eyes,  his  work  is  done ; 

What  to  him  is  friend  or  foeman, 

Rise  of  moon  or  set  of  sun, 

Hand  of  man,  or  kiss  of  woman? 
Leave  him  to  God’s  watching  eye, 

Trust  him  to  the  hand  that  made  him  ; 
Mortal  love  weeps  idly  by, 

Christ  alone  has  power  to  aid  him. 


Address  of  Mr.  Anderson,  of  Ohio. 


205 


Address  of  Mr.  Anderson,  of  Ohio. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  Why  is  the  gavel  silent  on  the  desk,  the  labors  of 
this  House  Suspended,  and  debate  stilled  in  these  Halls,  and  this  pres¬ 
ence  in  attendance  ?  A  great  man  has  fallen,  John  A.  Logan  has 
been  called  to  rest,  and  we  are  met  to  review  his  life’s  work  and  re¬ 
count  his  virtues. 

General  Logan  was  a  true  type  of  the  struggling,  courageous 
frontiersman  of  the  W est.  Endowed  with  a  splendid  physique,  cour¬ 
age,  energy,  and  a  strong  will,  he  was  well  equipped  for  the  boisterous 
voyage  of  life  on  which  he  was  launched.  He  was  a  typical  Ameri¬ 
can.  A  self-made  man,  he  started  a  poor  boy,  he  lived  and  died  a 
poor  man. 

He  imbibed  from  the  wide-stretching  prairies  surrounding  his  hum¬ 
ble  home  broad  views  and  the  true  idea  of  freedom.  He  was  a  man 
possessed  of  profound  convictions  and  of  unbending  will  if  he  believed 
he  was  in  the  right.  All  his  personal  and  intellectual  qualities  were 
positive. 

In  debate  he  was  direct,  intense,  fearless.  Bold  in  the  assertion  of 
his  convictions,  impetuous  in  their  vindication,  he  scorned  evasion 
and  despised  hypocrisy. 

In  the  performance  of  duty  he  took  no  account  of  results  and  feared 
no  consequences.  He  was  familiar  with  all  the  weapons  of  debate, 
and  he  at  times  wielded  the  gentle  power  of  persuasion,  the  convinc¬ 
ing  force  of  logic,  and  the  strong  blows  of  ridicule,  often  sweeping- 
before  him  in  a  tempestuous  outburst  of  eloquence  all  opposition  to 
the  high  resolves  and  earnest  convictions  of  his  mighty  soul. 

If  he  lost  anything  by  neglected  education  his  great  genius  sup¬ 
plied  the  defect.  He  always  had  his  armor  on,  and  Logan,  either 
in  the  forum  or  on  the  battlefield,  was  ever  ready  for  the  rencounter. 

.He  was  the  advocate  of  liberty  and  the  devoted  friend  of  the  hu¬ 
man  race.  He  loved  his  friends  with  unswerving  fidelity  and  never 
deserted  them.  He  was  a  friend  of  truth,  and  hated  treason  whether 
against  his  country  or  his  friend. 

He  sought  to  preserve  the  Union  and  maintain  the  Constitution  ; 
he  was  the  advocate  of  the  universal  freedom  of  man.  He  labored 
to  restore  peace  and  amity  between  the  sections  of  our  country,  and 


206 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


performed  his  full  share  in  healing  the  animosities  engendered  by 
the  war.  He  sought  to  cherish  industry  and  protect  labor.  He  en¬ 
couraged  the  settlement  of  our  vast  domain  and  the  development  of 
our  resources.  He  came  from  the  humbler  class  and  his  sympathies 
were  always  with  the  poor  and  the  sons  of  toil.  He  was  from  them 
and  one  of  them. 

Along  the  highway  over  which  our  country  and  people  have  jour¬ 
neyed  during  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  J ohn  A.  Logan  may  be 
seen  and  traced.  If  he  was  your  antagonist,  he  was  an  open  one, 
scorning  to  attack  by  stealth  or  fight  from  ambush.  He  struck 
his  blows  in  front  and  in  daylight.  Ready  to  forgive  and  forget  a 
slight  or  insult  done  him,  he  was  as  eager  to  repair  an  injury  done 
another. 

Wherever  he  was  found  he  was  stolid,  sincere,  intense,  firm, honest, 
and  courageous.  If  he  was  a  brilliant  figure  in  the  political  arena, 
he  was  none  the  less  so  in  the  military.  It  mattered  little  to  Logan 
whether  on  the  field  of  battle  or  in  the  Halls  of  Congress ;  whether 
conducting  his  troops  at  the  assault  of  Honelson  or  maintaining  a 
debate  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States ;  whether  managing  a  great 
Presidential  campaign  or  leading  his  army  through  Georgia;  whether 
caressing  his  loved  ones  at  home,  or  enduring  the  privations  of  army 
life ;  whether  trudging  along  the  ranks  as  a  private  soldier,  or  riding 
his  charger  at  the  head  of  his  army. 

When  our  civil  war  burst  like  a  terrible  tempest  upon  the  nation 
Logan  buckled  on  his  sword,  rushed  to  battle  and  never  halted  until 
slavery  was  dead,  freedom  reigned  triumphant,  and  the  union  of  all 
the  States  secured.  As  resistless  against  the  foe  as  an  avalanche 
rushing  headlong  from  Alpine  heights  to  desolate  the  plains  below 
he  combined  the  desperation  of  Charles  XII  with  the  generosity  of  a 
Csesar. 

See  General  Logan  and  his  troops  storming  the  battlements  at 
Vicksburg,  first  to  break  down  the  enemy’s  stronghold  and  lead  the 
advance  into  the  captured  city;  and  as  long  as  the  “  King  of  Rivers” 
flows  by  those  bluffs  will  the  heroism  of  Logan  and  his  men  be 
remembered.  The  memorable  assault  he  led  at  Kenesaw  will  be 
remembered  while  that  mountain  stands  on  its  foundations  of  granite. 
But  he  appeared  most  conspicuous  on  July  22,  1864,  in  front  of 
Atlanta.  The  confederate  General  Hood  made  a  desperate  assault 
on  the  Union  forces  to  free  himself  from  the  iron  grasp  of  Sherman. 


Address  of  Mr.  Anderson,  of  Ohio.  207 

In  this  engagement  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  was  driven  hack,  and 
General  McPherson,  its  commander,  fell. 

Logan  at  once  assumed  command.  He  found  the  troops  fatigued 
and  dispirited,  the  enemy  enthusiastic  and  exultant  in  their  tempo¬ 
rary  victory. 

Cannon  to  right  of  them, 

Cannon  to  left  of  them, 

Cannon  in  front  of  them, 

Volley’d  and  thunder’d. 

Logan  appeared  upon  the  scene.  He  aroused  the  energies  of  his 
men  for  battle,  cheered  the  despondent,  and  rallied  the  faltering. 
With  head  uncovered,  his  long  black  hair  flying  over  his  shoulders 
as  he  galloped  his  foaming  charger  along  the  line,  he  looked  the  im¬ 
personation  of  Mars.  His  voice  was  heard  above  the  din  and  clangor 
of  battle  shouting  to  his  men,  “Be  brave  and  fear  not;  let  your 
watchword  be  McPherson  and  revenge.” 

His  troops  caught  the  spirit  of  their  commander,  and  hope  and  con¬ 
fidence  assumed  sway;  they  sprang  into  the  conflict,  rushed  upon  the 
enemy,  and  in  an  hour’s  time  regained  all  that  had  been  lost,  and 
turned  threatened  defeat  into  a  glorious  victory.  It  was  this  Ajax 
of  the  Army  of  the  North  who  saved  that  day.  The  heroic  deeds  of 
General  Logan  in  this  battle  will  not  be  forgotten  while  the  name  of 
Atlanta  is  spoken  by  the  children  of  men. 

Although  he  had  not  the  benefit  of  a  military  education,  yet  he  rose 
to  the  highest  rank  ever  held  by  a  volunteer  officer  in  our  country, 
and  he  is  justly  entitled  to  the  name  of  being  the  greatest  general  of 
the  volunteer  army  of  the  Union.  He  served  his  country  because  he 
loved  it. 

During  his  military  life  he  suffered  much  and  endured  much,  was 
torn  and  mangled  by  shot  received  in  action,  yet  he  declined  to  receive 
a  pension  to  which  he  was  justly  entitled.  His  services  were  not 
rendered  for  bounty,  nor  was  his  patriotism  to  be  measured  by  dollars 
and  cents.  That  his  life  was  shortened  by  his  exposures,  sufferings, 
and  wounds  there  is  no  room  to  doubt,  but  a  mighty,  patriotic  people 
will  cheerfully  give  to  his  disconsolate  widow  that  pension  which  her 
husband  declined  while  alive. 

Mr.  Speaker,  although  I  had  but  a  limited  acquaintance  with  this 
great  chieftain,  yet  I  knew  him  as  I  saw  him  at  the  head  of  his  troops 
in  Tennessee  and  Georgia,  and  as  I  read  him  in  the  history  of  the 


208  Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

times.  He  was  the  idol  of  the  volunteer  soldier,  who  loved  him  for 
his  untiring  devotion  to  their  cause  in  peace  as  much  as  for  his  lead¬ 
ership  in  war. 

Logan  had  a  heart  that  never  ceased  to  beat  in  sympathy  and  re¬ 
spect  for  the  soldier  that  fought  by  his  side,  and  to  those  heroic  men 
who  battled  against  him  he  held  out  the  hand  of  a  generous  foe. 

In  peace  he  had  no  fortune  but  his  genius,  courage,  and  faith  ;  in 
war,  no  friend  but  his  valor  and  sword  ;  yet  we  see  him  measuring 
arms  with  men  of  experience,  rank,  and  power,  and  write  his  name 
high  on  the  escutcheon  of  fame,  leaving  the  world  better  for  having 
lived  in  it. 

He  is  dead  ;  dead  to  his  State,  but  he  lives  to  the  nation ;  dead  to 
the  family,  but  he  lives  to  every  lover  of  freedom  on  the  globe. 

Where  he  will  be  buried  is  not  yet  determined.  A  dozen  cities 
ask  for  the  honor  of  giving  a  resting-place  to  his  ashes  ;  and  I  ven¬ 
ture  to  express  the  wish  that  one  place  suggested  for  interment  may 
be  adopted — that  is  Arlington.  The  place  is  so  fitting,  the  surround¬ 
ings  so  much  in  harmony  with  his  great  life. 

In  sight  of  the  sacred  urn  at  Mount  V ernon  an  army  of  his  dead 
comrades  bivouacked  around  him,  overlooking  the  capital  of  that 
nation  he  labored  so  hard  in  peace  to  build  up  and  suffered  so  much 
in  war  to  maintain.  There  may  he  rest  in  peace,  where  the  vine  and 
the  wild  rose  will  entwine  their  garlands  over  his  grave  ;  where  the 
gentle  evening  breeze,  through  the  sad  pines,  may  sigh  a  dirge  to 
him,  and  the  historic  Potomac  murmur  a  requiem  as  it  hurries  on  to 
the  sea. 

This  great  man  will  not  be  forgotten.  His  name  and  deeds  are 
enrolled  in  the  history  of  his  age  and  he  lives  in  the  affections  of  a 
patriotic  people.  He  will  be  remembered  while  liberty  has  a  shrine 
and  freedom  a  votary.  His  name  will  be  cherished  until  the  clouds 
forget  to  replenish  the  springs,  the  fountains  to  gush,  or  the  rills  to 
sing. 

In  ages  hence  his  lofty  deeds  will  “  be  acted  o’er  in  the  nations  yet 
unborn  and  accents  yet  unknown.  ” 

Mr.  Speaker,  from  the  tears  which  this  day  fall  on  the  bier  of 
Logan  the  patriot,  warrior,  and  statesman,  there  springs  a  rainbow 
spanning  our  heavens  giving  hope  and  promise  of  the  immortality 
of  the  Republic. 


Adcb'ess  of  Mr.  Brown,  of  Pennsylvania. 


209 


Address  of  Mr.  Brown,  of  Pennsylvania. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  The  heritage  of  good  deeds  is  mightier  for  a  na¬ 
tion’s  defense  than  many  armies  with  banners.  It  builds  empires 
and  conquers  the  foes  of  freedom.  In  the  dread  time  of  Avar  it  cre¬ 
ates  armies  and  nerves  them  to  battle  for  the  right.  The  Republic 
takes  pride  in  her  great  names.  Though  but  a  century  old,  our 
•temple  of  fame  has  garnered  so  fast  and  so  well  within  its  mystic 
Avails  that  for  every  exigency  Ave  have  our  mentor  and  for  every 
peril  our  inspiration.  Among  the  names  there  enshrined  is  now  that 
of  John  Alexander  Logan. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  clear  notes  of  the  bugle  blast  that  sounded 
‘“lights  out”  on  the  -31st  of  December  last,  when  this  hero  and  pa¬ 
triot  Avas  left  ‘  ‘  where  the  dead  reign  alone.  ”  There  Avas  a  solemn 
stillness  in  the  air,  and  out  upon  the  heights  the  clouds  bended  Ioav 
and  Avept  icy  tears.  By  the  tomb  where  we  laid  him  stood  a  com¬ 
rade-bugler,  martial  and  melancholy.  “Earth  to  earth  and  dust  to 
dust”  Avas  said,  and  then  the  bugle  touched  his  quivering  lips,  and 
in  a  single  breath  told  a  story  that  bows  a  nation  in  grief.  “  Lights 
out,”  is  the  closing  epitome  of  all  that  tread  the  earth.  I  cannot  tell 
Avliat  Avas  in  the  mind  of  the  author  of  “Lights  out”  when  he  set  it 
to  martial  music;  but  in  it  there  is  more  to  me  than,  its  title  indi¬ 
cates.  If  it  announces  mortality  it  often  proclaims  immortality  as 
Avell.  The  better  part  of  Logan  is  not  in  the  grave — that  can  never 
die.  For  if  there  be  no  home  of  the  soul  in  the  bosom  of  our  God, 
as  our  faith  teaches  there  is,  we  know  there  is  yet  a  realm  wherein 
deeds  die  not  and  where  human  sacrifices  keep  vigils  with  the  cen¬ 
turies  and  the  cycles.  When  Avill  the  achievements  of  Washington 
be  forgotten?  When  will  the  deeds  of  Lincoln  die?  Hoav  can  time 
efface  the  record  of  that  valor  which  gave  and  preserved  us  a  na¬ 
tion?  Will  the  thunders  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  cease 
amid  the  roll  of  the  ages?  And  Avhile  the  earth  stands  Avill  f reed- 
men  forget  “freedom’s  proclamation”? 

Ah  !  sir,  these  shall  all  outstay  the  monuments  that  are  of  marble 
and  of  bronze !  So,  too,  in  all  generations  yet  to  be,  as  they  shall 
read  the  story  of  Belmont,  Donelson,  Corinth,  Port  Gibson,  Ray¬ 
mond,  Champion  Hill  and  Vicksburg,  Missionary  Ridge,  Kenesaw 
14  L 


210 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


and  Lookout  Mountains,  and  the  mighty  march  to  Atlanta  and  to 
the  sea,  will  not  all  these  millions  bless  this  warrior’s  name  and  draw 
fresh  inspiration  from  the  matchless  valor  he  achieved  on  these  bat¬ 
tlefields  for  freedom  and  for  freedom’s  citadel  ? 

But  there  is  more  to  challenge  our  admiration  in  the  career  of 
Logan  than  his  military  renown.  He  believed  that  having  4 ‘let  the 
oppressed  go  free  ”  we  should  protect  the  freedman.  He  believed 
that  freedom  without  the  panoply  of  citizenship  is  a  mockery,  and 
hence  he  early  championed  equal  rights  and  enfranchisement  for  the 
colored  man.  To  contend  for  these  in  behalf  of  an  outraged  and 
despised  race  required  as  much  courage  in  that  transition  period  as 
to  meet  the  enemy  on  the  field  of  carnage. 

There  never  was  an  hour  of  greater  peril  to  the  Republic  than  when, 
after  the  war,  all  the  leading  men  in  one  of  the  great  parties,  and 
many  in  the  other,  disclosed  the  purpose  of  leaving  four  millions  of 
people  in  the  nation  without  status  and  without  hope  of  ever  attain¬ 
ing  unto  citizenship.  But  there  were  “giants  in  those  days,”  and 
none  stood  firmer  or  dealt  more  telling  blows  for  the  right  than  John 
A.  Logan. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  explain  what  made  Logan  a  leader  among 
men  or  by  what  “sign  he  conquered.”  I  am  not  certain  that  I  could 
should  I  try.  I  know,  however,  that  he  was  mighty  for  the  right  in 
every  conflict  in  which  he  engaged,  both  in  war  and  in  peace,  and  I 
know  that  with  his  rugged  manhood  he  was  yet  gentle  and  sensitive 
as  a  woman,  and  as  loyal  to  friendship  as  the  mother  to  her  child. 
Whatever  then  may  have  contributed  to  his  greatness,  we  are  sure 
that  these  kindly  qualities  are  not  barriers  in  the  highways  to  fame. 

Logan  in  the  United  States  Senate  was  as  conspicuous  to  the  whole 
nation  as  he  was  to  his  soldiers  in  the  day  of  battle.  During  his 
career  there  no  man  ever  made  a  pilgrimage  to  the  national  capital, 
seeking  to  know  her  great  Senators,  who  did  not  among  the  very 
first  regard  with  pride  and  satisfaction  the  figure  of  the  “warrior 
statesman  from  Illinois.”  There  are  few  men  of  our  time  whose  in¬ 
fluence  as  an  orator  has  been  so  widely  felt  and  admired  as  that  of 
Senator  Logan.  No  man  ever  questioned  his  ability  or  his  skill  in 
the  use  of  the  English  language  save  the  ignorant  or  the  malicious. 
His  impeachment  of  Fitz-John  Porter  in  the  Senate  and  his  oration 
at  the  tomb  of  Grant  are  among  the  very  best  productions  of  this 
generation. 


Address  of  Mr.  Cannon ,  of  Illinois. 


211 


No,  we  have  not  buried  the  glorious  conquests  in  the  field  and  in 
the  forum  of  John  A.  Logan.  They  live  and  speak,  and  shall  live 
and  speak  while  true  chivalry  and  exalted  patriotism  remain  in  the 
earth. 

Surely  the  actions  of  the  just 
Smell  sweet  and  blossom  in  the  dust. 


■/ 

Address  of  Mr.  Cannon,  of  Illinois. 

Mr.  Speaker  :  Wlioever-pays  a  proper  tribute  to  the  memory  of 
General  Logan  must  write  the  history  of  the  country  during  the  late 
war  and  the  years  succeeding. 

With  Lincoln,  Grant,  Sherman,  and  Thomas  he  was  a  factor — and 
not  the  least,  in  the  settlement  of  those  questions  which  determine 
the  fate  of  a  nation,  ay,  of  a  civilization. 

Southern  Illinois  was  mainly  peopled  by  immigrants  from  the 
Southern  States.  It  was  natural  that  they  should  bring  with  them 
the  sentiments  of  the  section  from  which  they  came.  The  prevailing 
sentiment  was  one  of  sympathy  with  the  South  and  its  institutions. 

Logan  was  born  and  nurtured  in  Southern  Illinois,  and  it  was  nat¬ 
ural  that  he  should  be  affected  by  the  sentiments  and  prejudices  of 
his  surroundings. 

In  early  manhood  he  became  a  leader  among  his  fellows.  He  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Mexican  war  ;  later  a  member  of  the  Illinois  legisla¬ 
ture.  In  1860,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four,  he  was  elected  for  a  second 
term  to  the  National  House  of  Representatives  as  a  Democrat. 

The  greatest  popular  leader  in  the  ranks  of  the  Democratic  party 
for  a  generation  immediately  preceding  the  war  was  Stephen  A. 
Douglas.  Logan  was  his  admirer,  supporter,  and  trusted  friend ;  he 
gave  him  most  earnest  support  in  the  contest  in  1860  for  the  Presi¬ 
dency.  The  session  of  Congress  immediately  preceding  the  inaugu¬ 
ration  of  Lincoln  was  one  of  the  most  eventful  and,  it  then  appeared, 
most  disastrous  in  the  history  of  the  country.  The  secession  of  one 
or  more  Southern  States  was  of  almost  weekly  occurrence.  Fear, 
uncertainty,  and  panic  were  abroad  in  the  land.  There  seemed  to 
be  no  thoroughfare  leading  to  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

An  effort  by  force  to  preserve  the  Constitution  and  enforce  the 
laws  seemed  certain  to  not  only  involve  the  United  States  in  a  war 
with  the  seceding  States,  but  also  to  light  the  fires  of  civil  warfare 


212 


Life  and  Char  actor  of  John  A.  Logan. 


throughout  the  North.  Especially  was  the  danger  imminent  in  the 
West,  and  more  especially  in  Southern  Illinois  and  Indiana. 

It  was  even  suggested  by  the  mayor  of  New  York  that  that  metrop¬ 
olis  should  secede  and  form  an  independent  city. 

The  blood  of  the  people  had  not  cooled  between  the  time  of  choos¬ 
ing  Presidential  electors  in  the  fall  of  18G0  and  the  inauguration  of 
Lincoln  on  the  4th  of  March,  18G1. 

Many  Democratic  partisans  claimed  that  the  Union  was  destroyed 
by  the  secession  of  States  ;  that  there  was  no  power  under  the  Con¬ 
stitution  to  preserve  the  unity  of  the  Republic  by  force,  and  even  if 
such  power  existed,  it  would  be  wicked  to  use  it.  Some  Republicans 
pronounced  in  favor  of  allowing  “the  wayward  sisters  to  depart  in 
peace.” 

The  people  were  anxiously  asking  what  will  Douglas  do,  and  wliat 
will  be  the  position  of  Logan  ?  Many  Democrats  expected  them  to 
take  grounds  against  Lincoln’s  administration,  and  against  the  use 
of  force  in  preserving  the  Union.  Douglas,  just  before  his  death, 
made  that  series  of  most  effective  speeches — the  last  one  in  Chicago — 
in  which  he  gave  President  Lincoln  and  the  Government  his  hearty 
and  unreserved  support.  Logan,  with  entire  devotion  to  the  country, 
united  with  him.  To  them  there  were  only  two  parties,  one  for,  and 
the  other  against,  the  preservation  of  the  Union. 

When  Douglas  died  Logan  took  his  place  as  a  leader,  entered  the 
Army,  and  did  not  lay  down  his  arms  until  the  war  closed.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  war,  through  the  efforts  of  Douglas  and  Logan, 
the  North  was  saved  from  the  ravages  of  civil  warfare  within  its 
borders. 

Logan  is  universally  acknowledged  to  have  been  the  greatest  vol¬ 
unteer  general  of  the  late  war.  In  effectiveness  of  service  to  the  Re¬ 
public  history  will  accord  him  an  equal  meed  of  praise  with  any  officer, 
either  regular  or  volunteer,  in  the  late  war.  The  regular  Army  is 
trained  in  the  profession  of  arms ;  it  is  set  apart  from  the  mass  of  the 
people ;  its  methods  are  arbitrary ;  in  the  very  nature  of  its  constitu¬ 
tion  it  is  without  entire  sympathy  with  the  jjeople.  It  is  the  element 
of  force,  to  be  set  in  motion  after  all  other  agencies  have  failed. 

Our  people  boast  that  our  principal  reliance  is  upon  a  citizen  sol¬ 
diery  for  the  defense  of  the  Republic.  Such  an  army,  a  block  of  the 
people,  called  from  the  ordinary  avocations  of  life,  retains  the  hopes, 
fears,  prejudices,  and  sentiments  of  the  people  at  large,  from  which 
it  is  taken.  With  such  an  army  public  opinion  is  all-powerful. 


Address  of  Mr.  Cannon,  of  Illinois. 


213 


Logan  not  only  proved  a  great  general  in  the  field,  but  by  plac¬ 
ing  his  fingers  upon  his  own  pulse  was  enabled  to  count  the  heart¬ 
beats  of  the  whole  people. 

The  people  recognized  that  he  was  one  of  them.  They  gave  him 
their  confidence ;  to  confidence  they  added  respect,  and  to  respect 
love.  These  he  retained  until  his  death. 

He  was  a  friend  of  the  people,  and  the  people  were  his  friends. 
Logan  was  criticised  for  his  devotion  to  the  well-being  of  his  com¬ 
panions  in  arms.  He  felt  that  the  country  could  not  give  them  too 
high  a  meed  of  praise.  He  was  convinced  that  the  liberty  of  the  citi¬ 
zen — his  security  in  the  rights  of  property — in  short,  the  very  exist¬ 
ence  of  the  Republic  itself,  was  owing  principally  to  the  sacrifices, 
the  bravery,  the  patriotism  of  the  soldiers  of  the  late  war.  He  be¬ 
lieved  that  gratitude  and  a  sound  public  policy  alike  demanded  that 
the  United  States  should  be  liberal  in  contributing  to  the  support  of 
those  Avho  were  disabled  in  the  line  of  duty,  and  in  caring  for  those 
who  are  now  disabled  and  dependent. 

Time,  no  doubt,  will  demonstrate  that  in  this  policy  he  was  cor¬ 
rect. 

After  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  twice  elected  to  Congress  as 
Representative  at  Large,  and  three  times  as  Senator  from  the  State 
of  Illinois.  Nature  made  him  a  leader,  and  he  did  lead — in  civil  as 
well  as  in  military  life. 

His  death  is  the  nation’s  loss.  His  record  is  the  nation’s  inheri¬ 
tance.  He  molded  events  in  great  crises.  His  achievements  are 
examples  of  the  value  of  ability  when  coupled  with  convictions. 
Whatever  he  did  he  did  with  all  his  might.  His  life  will  be  a  healthy 
incentive  to  action  to  the  millions  who  are  to  follow  after  him. 

Logan  dead  will  be  a  potent  factor  for  good  when  those  people  who 
drift  without  convictions,  priding  themselves  upon  their  culture  in 
lieu  thereof,  are  dead  and  forgotten. 


214 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 


Address  of  Mr.  GrOSVENOR,  of  Ohio. 

Mr.  Speaker:  The  news  that  flashed  along  the  wires  announcing 
that  Logan  was  dead  smote  painfully  upon  the  hearts  of  more 
soldiers  than  did  any  other  news  that  for  twenty  years  has  been  con¬ 
veyed  to  the  American  people.  Logan  was  peculiarly  and  especially 
near  to  the  volunteer  soldier.  He  was  without  doubt  the  greatest  of 
them  all.  He  was  their  leader,  and  was  so  recognized  by  them.  He 
was  the  highest  type  of  excellence. 

In  war  he  had  set  them  the  example  of  a  great  leader  of  men;  in 
peace  he  had  never  faltered  in  the  work  assigned  him  as  champion 
of  their  interests.  The  strong  individuality  of  the  man  shone  out 
on  all  occasions  in  war  and  in  peace.  In  war,  in  the  camp  of  in¬ 
struction,  he  was  patient  and  teachable.  By  the  camp-fire  and  in 
the  society  of  his  fellows  he  was  the  type  of  good-fellowship  and 
strong  comradeship.  In  the  hospital  he  was  gentle  and  sympa¬ 
thetic.  On  the  march,  persistent  and  indefatigable.  In  battle  he 
was  a  thunderbolt. 

The  pictures  of  heroic  leaders  drawn  by  the  pen  of  word  painters 
are  faint,  pale,  and  unmeaning  as  compared  with  Logan  as  he  rode 
down  the  line  of  his  men  at  Atlanta  and  assumed  the  responsibility 
which  the  death  of  McPherson  had  cast  upon  him,  and  caused  the 
army  to  believe,  and  truly,  that  as  great  a  man  as  McPherson  was 
there.  I  offer  two  pictures,  one  to  show  that  Logan  was  a  far-seeing, 
wise  man,  the  other  to  show  that  he  was  a  modest  and  patriotic  man. 

He  was  ordered  to  command  the  great  Army  of  the  Cumberland 
at  the  end  of  three  years  of  its  service  and  history.  He  was  ordered 
to  supersede  George  H.  Thomas,  who  was  of  that  army,  had  grown 
with  that  army,  and  was  the  pride  and  idol  of  that  army.  He  was 
to  command  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  the  army  that  had  stood 
in  the  cedar  jungles  of  Stone  River  like  an  insurmountable  wall  of 
blood  and  fire  and  patriotism  when  the  serried  columns  of  Bragg 
had  been  hurled  almost  irresistibly  upon-  it,  had  won  a  glorious  vic¬ 
tory,  occupied  Murfreesborough  and  reorganized  its  plans,  which 
were  carried  out  in  proud  triumph  as  the  banner  of  America  crossed 
the  Georgia  mountains  and  flashed  full  in  the  faces  of  the  grand 
gathering  of  the  confederates  at  La  Fayette  and  Lee  and  Gordon’s 
Mills. 


Address  of  Mr.  Grosvenor,  of  Ohio.  215 

The  army  that,  retiring  from  the  terrible  battle  of  Chickamauga, 
had  preserved  its  honor  untarnished,  had  occupied  Chattanooga, 
holding  the  key  of  all  the  future  operations  in  the  South ;  the  army 
that  had  scaled  Mission  Ridge  and  Lookout  Mountain  ;  the  army  that 
for  all  those  weary  days,  weeks,  and  months  had  marched  and  fought 
over  the  blood-stained  pathway  it  cut  and  hewed  from  Chattanooga 
to  Atlanta ;  the  army  that  had  never  ingloriously  turned  its  back  upon 
a  foe — without  a  stain  upon  its  escutcheon,  proud  of  its  achievements, 
proud  of  its  commander — was  to  be  turned  over  to  John  A.  Logan  by 
the  mistaken  judgment  of  thdgreat  commander  of  the  Army.  Logan 
saw  all  that  I  have  described,  and  more. 

He  saw  that  the  plans  and  procedure  of  Thomas  had  been  faultless — 
absolutely  above  criticism.  He  saw  that  in  the  hearts  of  the  men  of 
the  Cumberland  Army  there  was  enshrined  and  engraven  the  name 
and  fame  of  George  H.  Thomas.  He  saw  that,  for  the  first  time, 
Thomas  was  to  have  an  independent  command  of  a  great  army  in  a 
great  battle.  He  knew  that  before  that  army  lay  victory.  He  knew 
that  in  the  air  that  encircled  Overton  and  the  environments  of  Brent¬ 
wood  there  was  being  sung  a  song  of  triumph. 

In  his  mind’s  eye  he  beheld  the  serried  columns  of  Smith’s  Corps, 
joining  with  that  of  Steedman  and  Wood  and  others,  scaling  the 
fortifications  around  Nashville,  crushing  the  army  of  Hood,  driving 
it,  starving  and  disintegrating,  out  of  Tennessee;  marking  its  path¬ 
way  with  the  blood  of  its  brave  men,  and  crushing  and  destroying 
that  great  army;  and  he  knew  that  around  such  a  victory  as  that 
would  cluster  the  laurel  wreaths  of  glory,  and  that  they  would  de¬ 
scend  upon  the  brow  of  the  commander.  And  he  never  doubted  the 
loyalty  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  to  him  should  he  become 
their  leader,  for  he  knew  the  place  he  occupied  in  the  hearts  of  the 
men  of  that  army;  but  he  was  a  just  man  and  he  would  not  pluck 
the  ripe  fruit  that  hung  so  tempting,  which  was  the  just  due  of  the 
great  hero  of  Chickamauga  and  Nashville,  the  immortal  George  H. 
Thomas. 

Logan,  then  and  there, by  that  act  of  self-abnegation  demonstrated 
his  far  seeing  wisdom  and  foresight.  He  saw  more  keenly  than  Grant 
that  Thomas  had  not  been  slow,  that  Thomas  had  not  faltered,  that 
Thomas  had  made  no  mistake;  and  his  sense  of  justice,  his  love  of  fair¬ 
ness  forbade  him  to  reap  the  victory  that  was  due  a  commander.  In 
this  he  was  a  just  man,  a  wise  man,  and  a  far-seeing  soldier. 


216 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

But  when  McPherson  fell,  hv  common  acclaim  Logan  was  entitled 
to  the  command  thus  vacated.  He  had  been  to  McPherson  what  Ney 
was  to  Napoleon;  he  had  been  to  McPherson  what  Yon  Moltke  was  to 
Kaiser  Wilhelm.  The  strategy  of  the  campaign  was  familiar  to  him : 
the  details  of  the  army  organization  were  like  a  primer  to  him.  He 
had  never  made  a  mistake  in  any  movement  that  he  had  attempted, 
and  he  passed  through  the  bloody  baptism  of  the  first  hours  of  his  com¬ 
mand  with  a  keen  intelligence  and  broad  grasp  of  generalship  and  a 
magnificence  of  execution  which  said  to  all  the  world  Logan  should 
command. 

But  when  he  was  superseded  he  modestly  took  his  place  at  the  head 
of  the  old  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  He  would  not  leave  his  comrades 
without  his  presence  and  advice  and  assistance.  He  would  not  leave 
his  country  without  the  strong  arm  upon  which  she  was  relying.  He 
waived  the  question  of  rank,  and  modestly  and  faithfully  supported 
Howard  as  he  had  done  his  predecessor.  He  was  a  far  abler  man  than 
Howard,  a  greater  man  than  Howard,  a  more  able  general  than  How¬ 
ard,  wiser  in  all  except  West  Point  tactics  than  Howard,  many  fold 
more  fitted  to  the  command  of  that  great  army  than  Howard;  and  yet, 
while  others  resented  the  assignment,  left  the  flag,  and  sought  other 
service,  Logan  hammered  away  at  the  enemy.  If  he  felt  within  him 
a  keen  sense  of  injustice,  he  dealt  the  retaliatory  blows  upon  the  ene¬ 
mies  of  his  country.  If  he  felt  the  injustice  of  the  new  assignment,  he 
struggled  the  harder  to  win  battles  to  save  the  commander  who  had 
superseded  him  from  failure.  In  all  this  Logan  was  a  modest  man 
and  a  patriot. 

It  has  been  said  that  a  great  general  of  the  war  spoke  of  Logan  as  a 
“political  general.’’  The  statement  has  been  denied,  but  the  sugges¬ 
tion  was  taken  up  and  the  changes  rung  on  it  all  over  the  country. 
It  was  used  as  a  term  of  reproach.  My  opinion  is,  Mr.  Speaker — and 
I  mention  it  modestly — that  there  was  no  successful  general  of  the 
war  who  was  not,  to  a  certain  extent,  a  “political  general.”  The 
war  was  a  political  contest.  It  grew  out  of  two  antagonistic  systems 
and  principles  of  government,  two  widely  adverse  and  different  con¬ 
structions  of  the  Constitution,  two  distinct  political  interests,  and 
therefore  the  contest  was  a  political  one. 

It  was  born  and  nurtured,  had  its  growth  and  development,  in 
political  platforms  of  political  parties.  It  was  a  political  movement 
on  the  side  of  the  attempted  destroyers  of  the  Union,  and  patriotic 


217 


Address  of  Mr.  Grosvenor,  of  Ohio. 

resistance,  without  regard  to  party,  on  the  other;  and  the  man, 
therefore,  who  best  understood  the  nature  of  the  contest,  best  under¬ 
stood  how  to  meet  the  emergency  of  the  contest,  was  a  politician.  It 
was  a  political  general  who  assailed  slavery  in  the  very  beginning  of 
the  war  and  declared  that  there  could  be  no  successful  prosecution 
of  the  war  until  the  Government  accepted  the  issue.  Time  proved 
his  opinion  correct. 

It  was  non-political  generalship  that  reversed  his  orders,  prolonged 
the  war,  and  ultimately  came  climbing  up  upon  the  platform  and 
shouting  about  the  keystone" of  the  arch  that  they  had  refused  in  dis¬ 
dain.  It  was  politics,  a  knowledge  of  politics  and  the  deep-seated 
political  purposes  of  the  men  of  the  South,  that  suggested  to  General 
Sherman  in  October,  1861,  to  say  that  there  ought  to  be  two  hun¬ 
dred  thousand  soldiers  sent  to  Louisville  to  march  against  the  rebels 
at  Muldraugh’s  Hill,  and  so  on  down  into  the  Confederacy. 

It  caused  the  report  to  go  out  and  to  be  believed  that  he  was  crazy. 
He  based  his  judgment  upon  his  intimate  knowledge  of  the  political 
purposes,  the  political  aspirations  of  the  people  of  the  South,  and 
when  he  marched  liis  victorious  columns  down  through  Georgia, 
subsisting  off  the  country;  when  the  sweet  potatoes  “started  from 
the  ground,”  and  the  turkeys  gobbled,  “which  our  commissaries 
found,”  there  was  more  politics  than  war  in  the  movement.  It  was 
a  political  suggestion  by  politicians,  and  not  soldiers  in  the  abstract, 
that  demanded  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  the  enlistment  of  colored 
men  into  the  army. 

The  weak  and  the  unpatriotic  faltered;  the  Caucasian,  in  a  few  in¬ 
stances,  resigned  his  commission  and  went  borne  because  the  African 
was  about  to  shoulder  arms.  The  Army  grew  no  weaker  for  the 
absence  of  the  former,  and  immeasurably  stronger  by  the  presence 
of  the  latter.  It  was  a  non-political  and  soldierly  suggestion  that 
the  soldiers  of  the  Union  Army  should  stand  guard  over  rebel  prop¬ 
erty,  preserve  fences  and  cornfields  and  sweet-potato  patches;  it  was 
a  political  idea  that  lighted  the  camp-fires  with  the  rails  and  fur¬ 
nished  the  mess  tables  with  the  products  of  the  country. 

That  was  war,  but  it  was  political  war.  With  the  training  of  the 
soldier  the  whole  thing  was  over  when  the  rebel  flag  was  pulled 
down;  but  with  men  like  Logan  and  Garfield  and  their  compeers  the 
amendments  to  the  Constitution  were  conditions-precedent  to  the 
fact  of  the  restoration  of  the  States.  So,  after  all,  there  was  a  blend- 


218 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

ing  of  tlie  knowledge  and  purposes  of  the  politician  with  the  knowl¬ 
edge  and  skill  and  bravery  of  the  soldier,  and  no  one  man  in  all  the 
long  years  of  war  and  reconstruction  consolidated  and  embraced  in 
one  person  so  much  that  was  right,  patriotic,  and  wise  of  the  politics 
of  the  war,  or  war  itself,  the  skill  of  the  soldier  and  the  politics  of 
reconstruction  and  the  politics  that  grew  out  of  the  war,  than  did 
John  A.  Logan. 

I  come  to  a  matter  of  a  very  recent  date,  Mr.  Speaker,  and  speak 
frankly  about  it,  for,  because  a  man  is  dead,  that  is  no  reason  why 
the  truth  should  not  be  told.  Because  a  man  is  dead — a  debt  we  all 
must  pay — that  is  no  reason  why  a  man  in  his  lifetime  should  he 
held  up  to  scorn.  Men  differ  in  this  country.  They  differ  honestly, 
bitterly  sometimes.  The  death  of  one  while  the  other  survives  does 
not  affect  the  criticism  of  the  one  nor  the  faults  or  foibles  of  the  other, 
if  any  such  he  had. 

In  the  State  which  I  have  the  honor  in  part  to  represent  there  was 
last  year  a  feeling  of  disappointment  and  sorrow  because  of  one  of 
the  acts  of  Logan.  If  history  is  to  be  written  in  this  way,  let  it  he 
written  truthfully.  If  facts  are  to  be  referred  to,  let  them  be  facts, 
and  not  attempt  to  substitute  fiction  for  fact.  The  people  of  Ohio, 
without  distinction  of  party,  had  felt,  and  felt  as  they  never  before 
felt  upon  a  question  like  this,  that  a  great  wrong  had  been  done  to 
them,  and  that  a  great  stigma  had  been  fastened  upon  them;  and  they 
appealed  to  the  Senate  to  right  the  wrong  and  efface  the  stigma. 

It  was  not  the  clamor  of  partisan  bitterness.  It  was  the  declaration 
of  honest  men  regardless  of  party.  It  had  its  original  statements 
and  declarations  of 'fact  from  the  mouths  of  distinguished  Democrats. 
Allegations  of  the  most  bitter  character,  illumined  with  satisfactory 
details,  were  furnished  by  the  Democratic  newspapers  of  the  State  ; 
and  so  it  came.  I  stop  not  to  discuss  the  right  or  the  wrong  of  it. 
Nine  out  of  every  ten  people  of  Ohio  earnestly  demanded,  in  their 
hearts  at  least,  that  the  wrong  should  he  righted,  or  at  least,  Mr. 
Speaker,  if  there  was  no  wrong  the  stigma  should  he  removed  by 
proof  and  demonstration  that  the  people  were  mistaken. 

It  became  the  watchword  of  civilization  and  public  honor  through¬ 
out  the  State.  It  was  taken  up  as  the  rallying  cry  of  the  young 
men.'  It  was  the  household  word  of  the  Ohio  man  that  this  investi¬ 
gation  must  go  on.  General  Logan  differed  in  opinion  with  this 
cry  and  this  demand,  and  no  appeal  could  swerve  him  from  what  he 


219 


Address  by  Mr.  Grosvenor,  of  Ohio. 

\ 

believed  to  be  right.  I  stop  not  here  and  now  to  argue  against  his 
position,  and  I  refer  to  it  simply  to  point  out  the  time  and  place  and 

the  circumstances  where,  in  my  judgment,  the  highest  compliment 
was  paid  to  John  A.  Logan  that  was  ever  paid  to  him  by  mortal 

man. 

In  the  hour  of  the  people’s  disappointment,  and  in  the  weeks  and 
months  that  followed  it,  smarting  under  the  misfortune  which  they 
understood  had  befallen  them,  and  attributing  the  failure  very 
largely  to  him,  bringing  the  blame  to  his  door,  never  from  the  tongue 
of  one  man  or  pen,  never  under  any  circumstances,  did  any  Ohio  man 
attribute  to  J  ohn  A.  Logan  base  or  improper  motives  for  his  con- 

i 

duct.  They  may  have  shed  tears  of  regret,  they  may  have  felt  the 
sting  of  disappointment  that  their  plans  and  purposes  had  failed, 
but  at  the  door  of  the  great  soldier  and  patriot,  Logan,  they  never 
brought  an  insinuation  of  dishonor. 

In  times  like  those  popular  judgment  is  u  ireasoning  sometimes,  * 
and  we  are  prone  to  ascribe  base  motives  to  the  conduct  of  men ;  but 
in  this  instance  the  shaft  was  too  high,  its  surface  was  too  solid,  its 
purity  was  too  well  established,  and  no  archer  hurled  his  arrow  of 
detraction  against  the  character  of  John  A.  Logan.  There  was  more 
in  this  controversy  to  gratify  Logan  than  to  hurt  his  feelings,  and 
the  men  who,  differing  with  him,  yet  ascribe  no  dishonest  motives 
to  him,  stand  better  to-day  than  they  who  seek  to  tarnish  the  repu¬ 
tation  of  others  by  taking  advantage  of  the  public  sentiment  toward 
a  dead  man. 

So  that,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  come  as  a  representative  in  part  of  my 
State,  without  hesitation,  without  reservation,  reverently  to  lay  upon 
the  bier  of  John  A.  Logan  a  tribute  of  our  love,  affection,  apprecia¬ 
tion,  admiration.  He  is  dead,  and  the  world  is  the  poorer  for  his 
death.  “  Earth  may  run  red  in  other  wars,”  but  the  superior  of  John 
A.  Logan  as  a  soldier  will  not  appear.  Revolutions  and  rebellions 
may  shake  the  foundations  of  government  again,  but  a  more  unselfish 
patriot  than  John  A.  Logan  will  not  espouse  the  cause  of  his  country 
in  future  years. 

Great  political  contests  may  disturb  the  people,  but  a  wiser,  cooler, 
braver  statesman  will  not  arise  in  her  councils.  He  is  gone,  and  the 
flowers  of  spring  will  shortly  bloom  over  his  grave  and  the  song  of 
the  birds  will  make  melody  in  the  air  above  him,  but  his  example 
will  live  while  patriotism  lives,  his  courage  will  be  mentioned  in 


220 


Life  and  Character  of  John  A.  Logan. 

song  and  story  while  courage  is  an  attribute  of  humanity  which  the 
people  love  and  admire.  Great  leader,  pure  patriot,  noble  comrade, 
farewell.  May  “the  sunshine  of  Heaven  beam  bright  on  thy 
waking,”  and  may  the  song  that  thou  hearest  be  “the  Seraphim’s 
song.” 


Mr.  Thomas,  of  Illinois.  I  move  the  adoption  of  the  resolutions. 
The  Speaker  pro  tempore  (Mr.  Dunham).  The  question  is  on 
the  adoption  of  the  resolutions. 

The  resolutions  were  adopted  unanimously ;  and  in  accordance 
therewith  the  House  (at  G  o’clock  and  10  minutes  p.  m.)  adjourned. 


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This  book  is  due  at  the  LOUIS  R.  WILSON  LIBRARY  on  the 
last  date  stamped  under  “Date  Due.”  If  not  on  hold  it  may  be 
renewed  by  bringing  it  to  the  library. 


